Warrant sheds light on Sheffield Twp. shooting

The Lorain County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant in an attempt to link a 27-yearold Akron man to a shooting last month in Sheffield Township.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Jan. 29 at a home in the 4200 block of Elyria Avenue.

Deputies were alerted to the shooting when a neighbor reported hearing three or four gunshots and seeing a silver four-door vehicle driving erratically on Elyria Avenue around the same time, according to an affidavit filed with the warrant.

When deputies arrived, they found drops of blood in front of the house and several in the driveway leading to the back entry door.

There, they found a large amount of blood with a spent shell casing near that door. A further search of the backyard turned up five spent 9 mm casings, according to the filing.

Deputies also located a pair of bullet holes on the rear of the home, the filing says.

Deputies knocked on the door and shouted to make contact with the occupants of the home, but received no response.

They entered the home and found a 22-year-old woman inside the living room with her hands in the air, the affidavit says.

The woman told deputies that after the shots were fired, her 27-year-old boyfriend left the home and she did not know where he went or his cell phone number.

She said she did not respond to the deputies’ knocks or verbal commands because she was scared, according to the affidavit.

The woman told deputies after her boyfriend left, she looked out the window and saw a red vehicle pull into and then out of their driveway and leave in an unknown direction.

She also saw a black car parked in front of the home and a short black male in a hoodie run back and forth between the car and her home before leaving the area, the affidavit says.

A short time later, a 29-year-old Lorain man was taken to a hospital in Avon with a gunshot wound to his left forearm.

The male told deputies he’d been shot after he was abducted from a home in the 4000 block of North Abbe Road and driven in his car to Elyria Avenue, the affidavit says.

He told police he was checking on his rental property on Leavitt when he saw an unidentified red vehicle in the driveway and was approached by two unidentified black males with hoodies obscuring their faces.

He also told them the men pulled guns on him and forced him into the backseat of his own car, the warrant says.

One of the unidentified males held the victim at gunpoint in the back seat, while the other drove the car to Elyria Avenue, according to the warrant.

The two then forced the victim out of the car and the three of them made their way to the back of the home, the affidavit says.

When they reached the rear door, one of the males kept a gun to the victim’s back while the other knocked on the door.

The victim saw an opportunity and began to draw his own Glock 26 pistol, the affidavit says.

Before the victim could fire, one of the unidentified males fired his weapon and struck the victim, according to the warrant.

The Lorain man fired off several shots at both unidentified men and retreated to his vehicle.

He then drove himself home before his girlfriend transported him to the hospital.

He later was flown to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland.

When deputies searched the victim’s car, they found his Glock 26 and a Samsung cell phone with a broken screen that does not belong to the victim, the affidavit says.

While deputies were investigating the initial shooting report, the Lorain Police Department made contact with a 27-yearold Akron man at Mercy Health in Lorain.

The man was suffering from a gunshot wound that he initially claimed occurred in Sheffield Township, but later said he was shot at a Lorain bar.

The warrant sought to search the cellphone left in the victim’s car as deputies believe it may tie the Akron man to the shooting.