Officers cleared in January shooting

YOUNGSTOWN

A pair of city police officers involved in a shooting early Jan. 27 were cleared by an Internal Affairs investigation.

Reports said they tried to stop a masked man who was walking in the street.

The investigation by Capt. Jason Simon and Lt. Brian Butler, who is head of internal affairs, found that officers Timothy Edwards and Brandon Caraway followed all rules and regulations during the incident, which resulted in Gerald Wainwright, 25, of Hilton Avenue, being shot after Wainwright fired several shots at the officers.

The officers were not hit. They returned fire, wounding Wainwright three times. He has been released from St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital and is now in the Mahoning County jail, where he is awaiting trial on charges of felonious assault on a police officer and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

“This shows how dangerous this job can be,” Butler said. “Thankfully, no one was killed.”

For more on the matter, read Tuesday's Vindicator or Vindy.com.