AKRON, Ohio (WJW) – A teenager was shot with his own gun while trying to rob an Akron business, but when police arrived, they discovered much more.
Two other men were arrested after police say the business was actually an illegal gambling operation.
The 16-year old boy was taken to Akron Children’s Hospital where he is being treated for serious abdominal injuries that are non-life-threatening.
He will eventually face charges, but the man who police say owns the building and the man who they say runs the gambling operation were already put behind bars.
Around 7:15 p.m. Monday, someone called 911 after a 16-year old boy was shot in the stomach at the Royal Quests Party Center on Brown Street in Akron.
Police say the teen was armed with a handgun, intending to rob the place.
A neighbor says he caught surveillance video of the teen walking toward the building.
“He was confronted by someone inside the business, inside the establishment. There was a confrontation and they tried to wrestle the gun away from, and did successfully wrestle the gun away from the teenage suspect,” said Akron Police Lt. Michael Miller.
As the teen was taken to the hospital, police checked out what was behind the dark tinted windows of the business, which had a bullet hole in the front door.
Investigators say they found shell casings, more than 20 illegal gambling machines and an undisclosed amount of cash.
Moments later, they say 34-year-old Billy Walker, who leases the building, and 19-year-old Donovan Alexander, who they say manages the gambling operation, arrived on scene.
They were arrested and charged with operating a gambling house and other gambling related charges.
“There were additional patrons and subjects inside the establishment, but left the scene after the shooting and so what we’re trying to determine is who actually participated in or fired the shot that struck the teen,” said Lt. Miller.
“I’ve been in the place two or three times, never been no problems,” said Ed Chambers, who lives across the street from the party center.
He says for months he wasn’t sure what was inside.
“I didn’t know that until somebody said ‘they got games in there’ and I’m like, ‘OK,’ but I thought it was legal,” Chambers said.
“I leave for work early in the morning. It’s been bad since that opened there,” said neighbor Tracy Martin.
Martin lives just a couple doors away.
“They’re out in our street in the middle of the night making all types of noise and guns firing off. This is terrible, so because I live very close by there, it’s a nightmare and it needs to stop,” she said.
Another neighbor, who did not want us to share his name, said he went inside the business once.
“I just wanted to see what was going on in there — drinking, smoking dope and all that in there and we reported it to the police, but they said they can only do what they can do,” he said.
Akron police say the alleged gambling house has been on the department’s radar.
The teenager will face aggravated robbery and aggravated assault charges once he is released from the hospital.
Police say the investigation is continuing.