Police investigate killing at West Side bar
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Witnesses told police there was no indication of trouble before a man was shot several times early Thursday at a West Side bar.
The Mahoning County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as Derrick Franklin, 25. His death is the city’s 23rd homicide of 2018 and the second this week.
Chief of Detectives Capt. Brad Blackburn said the man was shot about 1:20 a.m. inside the All City Sports Bar, 1698 Mahoning Ave. Friends took him to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, where he died.
There was a large crowd at the bar and the scene was chaotic, Blackburn said. He said investigators spoke to several people who said they could see no argument or fight before the victim was shot.
It also appears there was only one person who fired a gun, Blackburn said. He said several shell casings were recovered at the scene, but no weapons were found.
Franklin had a misdemeanor unauthorized use of motor vehicle charge filed in Mahoning County Court in Austintown in 2017 and several traffic charges in county court and municipal court.
Blackburn said he was not sure if there had ever been trouble at the bar. In September, someone drove their ex-girlfriend’s car into the side of the bar. Reports said police found drugs inside the car.
Since Oct. 14, the city has recorded 11 homicides, with three of those being on the West Side. Overall for the year, there have been five homicides on the West Side.
In 2017, at least two homicides were on the West Side. A missing woman who was found in the summer of 2017 cut up in a freezer had a Mahoning Avenue address, but detectives are not sure if she was killed at her home.
Overall, the city had 28 homicides in 2017.