Ryan Rulong guilty in University at Larchmont shootup

WARREN

The jury has found Ryan Rulong guilty of all eight attemptrd murder and felonious assault charges.

Rulong 27, of Church Hill Hubbard Road in Girard, was also convicted of one count of aggravated robbery.

He showed little reaction. In addition to being accused of robbing the True North gas station on East Market Street in Howland May 14, he is accused of firing a gun from his truck at least eight times into the University At Larchmont tavern May 10, injuring three tavern patrons.

The jury deliberated only about 50 minutes before returning its verdict.

Rulong will be sentenced at 10 a.m. Friday. Chris Becker, assistant county prosecutor, told Judge Rice that the sentences for the attempted murder counts and felonious assault counts will merge for sentencing purposes. It means he will be sentenced on the attempted murder charges and aggravated robbey but not on the felonious assault charges.

But Rulong's attorney, Michael Scala, questioned witnesses during the trial as to whether any of their injuries were gunshot wounds or just the result of flying debris or glass.

Medical records for all three suggested they had no gunshot wounds. In closing arguments earlier today, Scala argued the 16 charges related to the tavern do not constitute attempted murder or felonious assault because all of the shots were fired "up in the air" away from the dozens of people in the tavern, a suggestion that he did not intend to kill anyone.

"This young man did terrible things, but he did not commit these 16 crimes," Scala said. "I am saying these acts were dangerous, reckless and should not be tolerated."

Becker said three shots hit the tavern's door, low enough to have killed someone. The patrons in the bar seemed to believe they were being shot at because "Every patron got down on the ground as low as they could get," he said.

He added that Rulong admitted to police that he shot at the tavern to get even with two men with whom he had argued earlier that night. Becker said the two men Rulong wanted to hurt were no longer there when Rulong fired at the tavern, but he was "just as responsible" for injuring the three other people as if he had injured his specific target.