Youngstown, OH: Gunbattle with cops turns deadly

By Ed Runyan (Contact)

Monday, January 4, 2010

The death caps a violent start to the new year in Youngstown.

By Ed Runyan

YOUNGSTOWN — Three city police officers fired on and killed a city man Sunday afternoon in a gunbattle with police outside of the Eastway Apartments near McGuffey Road on the East Side.

The man, identified by the Mahoning County coroner as Ferell Tutt, was “irate” when he went to the apartment looking for a woman, fired into one female’s apartment window from the outside and also went inside the apartment building and fired into apartments from the hallway, said Capt. Rod Foley of the Youngstown Police Department.

Tutt, about 30 years old, was upset over his relationship with a woman who lived there, and he went there looking for her, Foley said. He went into at least one of the apartments looking for the woman and confronted three or four people there at gunpoint about the woman, Foley said.

“He was asking where his girlfriend was at,” Foley said, adding that he also “shot her mailbox up.”

Fortunately, the woman was not there, Foley said, adding that, miraculously, no one except the gunman was hurt.

Three officers in separate police cruisers responded to the apartment, where they found the man in the parking lot holding a gun, Foley said.

“According to witnesses he was making threats, and some said he fired at officers. We’re trying to confirm that by taking statements,” Foley said.

The dead man had gone to the complex alone in a white Ford Explorer, Foley said.

Dr. David Kennedy, Mahoning County coroner, identified the dead man but said he didn’t know Tutt’s age or address. An autopsy will be performed today, Kennedy said.

A spokesman at the Youngstown Police Department said Sunday night more information on the shooting would be available today.

Tutt was pronounced dead at the scene. Foley said he didn’t know how many times Tutt was shot. A semi-automatic pistol was found beside his body.

The three officers who fired at Tutt will be offered time off to get counseling, Foley said, adding that time off is offered in such cases but not required. He said information on whether officers chose that option are not made public.