MANSFIELD — Mansfield police Asst. Chief Jason Bammann was fairly blunt Thursday morning. It’s hard to solve a shooting incident when no one wants to talk about it.
At least three people were shot Wednesday around 8 p.m. in an apparent gun battle in the 300 block of South Diamond Street that included 11 separate gunshots, according to the MPD’s ShotSpotter technology.
One of the victims was taken to the hospital with two gunshot wounds to the head, according to the assistant chief, who said it appears she will recover. Two other men were wounded, but the gunshots were not life-threatening.
“We are getting minimal information from the people on the streets,” Bammann said. “Nobody wants to communicate and/or cooperate with us.”
Police responded to a 911 call at 398 S. Diamond St., with reports of shots fired and multiple gunshot victims.
Officers found the female victim inside a gray Hyundai sedan suffering from multiple bullet wounds. They provided medical assistance until EMS arrived.
“The investigation is active and we are still in the process of determining what led up to the shooting,” Lt. Robert Skropits said.
“Preliminary indications are that there was some type of prior fight at the location between one of the victims and the shooters. At some point, two of the victims returned to the scene and gunfire erupted and a third victim was shot,” he said.
Skropits said the woman driving the Hyundai sped off after being shot and crashed into the residence at 166 Ford St. Two men inside the car were also wounded, according to Bammann.
The assistant chief said one of the men ran from the car and was apprehended by police. The second victim showed up later at the hospital seeking treatment for his wound.
Two men in a convenience store parking lot who fired at the victims inside the car have not been identified, Bammann said.
The assistant chief said the investigation had not yet revealed who fired the first shot in the altercation.
Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call MPD Det. R. Swisher at (419) 755-9724.
Bammann said police don’t believe the Wednesday evening shooting is related to a shooting earlier in the day on South Adams Street. In that incident, a male victim suffered a gunshot wound to his ankle.
The assistant chief said police were getting no cooperation in their investigation of that shooting, either, including from the victim.
