PARMA, Ohio — A 21-year-old man was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals on Wednesday in connection with an early morning shooting in a Parma neighborhood on Tuesday. The man's arrest on Wednesday has left the families living along Tuxedo Avenue in Parma feeling relieved after the shooting left them rattled.
Around 4 a.m. Tuesday, Parma police responded to the 4300 block of Tuxedo Avenue after neighbors reported a series of gunshots fired in quick succession, police said.
“I woke up in the middle of the night to my son screaming. I heard pop-pop-pop-pop-pop — gunshots,” said neighbor Mike Christino. “I immediately knew it was gunshots. There was no question about it. It was pop-pop-pop-pop-pop. No question. It was one of those things where you wake up from a dead sleep.”
Christino’s next door neighbor, Timothy Loepp, said Parma Police quickly arrived on scene and began collecting at least a half-dozen shell casings in the street. The 28-year-old victim, who was standing in the front yard of the home directly next to Leopp’s residence, was found by patrol officers near the intersection of Pearl and Brookpark Roads. The victim had been shot three times and was rushed to MetroHealth hospital but is expected to survive.
Loepp said it wasn’t until the next morning until he realized just how close at least two of the gunshots came.
“I also ended up with two rounds in my house," he said.
“I wasn’t so upset until I came out the next morning and saw the bullet holes in my house. I have three kids in the house,” Loepp said. “You see it too much in the news where some innocent kid will get shot through a door or a window and that’s what very easily could have happened there.”
Two small bullet holes dot the side of his house. One round pierced the awning over the side door and the other narrowly missed an upstairs window.
Police said the victim and suspect were known to one another.
As a result of the investigation, police developed information that the man was in Florida. U.S. Marshals took him into custody on Wednesday where he awaits extradition back to Cuyahoga County.
“I am very happy with Parma PD and their response. There were more Parma policemen on this street than I have ever seen in my life,” Loepp said. “I was impressed by how quickly they got here and took care of everything.”
