WARREN — Mayor Doug Franklin spoke out Tuesday morning against a wave of violence that left one person dead and three others wounded in Warren over the weekend. 

"This violence is an affront. It's an affront to everything that we stand for as a community. It's an attack on our peace, our safety and, quite frankly, our way of life," Franklin said at a news conference with other city officials.

Three shootings occurred at different locations, with the fatal incident taking place early Sunday morning outside the Convenient Food Mart on Elm Road NE. According to the Warren Police Department, two males were found at the scene.

One of those men, identified during the conference as 31-year-old David Lee Owens III, was later pronounced dead at the hospital. No further updates were given on the condition of the second man.

Warren officials announced that they are taking steps to try and close the Convenient Food Mart, which they said has been a nuisance for years.

"It is nothing short of appalling the evidence that has been recovered and provided to date demonstrating the arrogance and flippancy being adopted and used by this by this one business in the city," said Enzo Cantalamessa, Warren's law director. 

"Going forward, despite numerous representations, we still find ourselves here today with no other recourse or avenue available other than to pursue the most aggressive possible remedy available at law."

Officials are making moves to submit a petition to the Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to mark the business as a nuisance and are asking for its immediate closure. If the court approves the request, officials say the store could be closed for up to one year.

Convenient Food Mart agreed with the city last year to close between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. on weekends, and not to sell alcohol after 2 a.m. Traci Timko, the city's prosecutor, said there is "clear evidence" the store has broken that agreement. 

"It is an absolute, blatant disregard for the laws, and it created gasoline on this fire that culminated in a death and danger to a lot of people," Timko said. 

The store's owner and employees deny the allegations. 

"We've never ignored our commitment to this agreement," said Mark Shafar, the owner of Convenient Food Mart, in a phone interview with 21 News. "We've always lived up to it. So for them to say that we didn't, I'd like to see that."

The police department also reported two other separate shooting incidents on Saturday and Sunday, with both victims hospitalized for treatment of injuries.

At the time of the news conference, police said they are unsure if the incidents are connected.

The recent violence comes less than a year after the launch of the Warren Community Violence Injury Prevention Program in September 2024, an initiative designed to combat retaliatory violence. The program was created in response to a rise in violent injuries and aims to intervene with victims at the hospital to offer alternatives to revenge and provide community resources.

No charges have been filed in connection with any of the shootings so far. Anyone with information related to the shootings was urged to contact the Warren Police Department.