Son arrested in fatal shooting of Elyria man

ELYRIA — Police on Tuesday arrested the son of a city man found shot to death Monday night on Gulf Road on charges he killed his father. Lamar Hudson Jr., 22, of Lorain, is charged with aggravated murder and is being held without bond in Lorain County Jail pending his arraignment today, Elyria police said. According to Elyria police, officers were called to the 1400 block of Gulf Road about 11:15 p.m. Monday for a report of shots fired. At the scene, they found a 1998 Chevrolet Camaro stopped facing south on the street. Inside the Camaro was Lamar Hudson Sr., 41, of Elyria. He had been shot several times and was dead when officers arrived, according to an Elyria Police Department news release. Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to contact Detective Zachary Kasperovich at (440) 326-1213 or zkasperovich@cityofelyria.org. Elyria Mayor Frank Whitfield posted his condolences to the Hudson family on the WElyria Facebook page and asked the public to help "bring justice to this situation." "I don't know much about Mr. Lamar Hudson Sr. but I know he was a (sergeant) in the Army and how proud he was of his daughter representing Elyria at the Memorial Day parade," he wrote. "My prayers go out to his family and friends." The Chronicle contacted family members for comment. It was one of two deaths in an eight-hour span on the city's north side late Monday night and early Tuesday morning, though a second body that was found off Hilliard Road early Tuesday showed no signs of violence, police said. Body found near school In the Tuesday morning incident, a man was found dead near the Northwood Campus school on Abbe Road North, though police said that was unrelated to Hudson's slaying. About 6:45 a.m. Tuesday, police were called to the 600 block of Hilliard Drive, about a mile and a half from the scene of the shooting, for an unresponsive man near the Elyria schools' Northwood Campus at 570 Abbe Road N. The man was lying dead in a grassy area at the northeast corner of Hilliard Road and Rosealee Avenue, witnesses said — near what is considered the main entrance for the Northwood Campus. Elyria police spokesman Capt. William Pelko said there were no signs of foul play. Investigators are awaiting autopsy and toxicology results from the coroner's office, he said. Crossing guard James Holzhauer, who was on duty near the school Tuesday morning, said another crossing guard saw the body and let him know about it, and he called 911. He said police told him to stay away from the body. He then flagged down arriving officers, who took over the scene and waited for the Lorain County Coroner's Office to arrive. There were "five or six" police cars, Elyria Fire Department vehicles and an ambulance, Holzhauer said. Officers covered the man's body with a sheet. On Facebook, Elyria City Schools wrote the incident had nothing to do with the schools, and administrators "did not learn of the police situation until buses and students were already en route to school," a Facebook post said. "By that time, social media messages were being placed on nondistrict sites that indicated school was not in session, which was inaccurate," the schools wrote. "Within the school today, students are following their regular schedule, however Northwood counselors and social workers are meeting individually with students as needed throughout the day."Buses for middle school students attending Northwood are already on the road at about 5:30 a.m. each day, Elyria schools spokesperson Amy Higgins said. Middle school students are let into the building at 7:15 a.m. and start classes about 7:30 a.m., she said. Higgins said police already were on the scene at 6:50 a.m. when Principal Mike Basinski passed it on his way into the building. When he got inside the building, he asked his staff to radio the school bus garage to divert buses off of Rosealee Avenue and have them enter the campus from Abbe Road North to avoid the scene. Crossing guards "did their best" to keep students who were walking to school on the opposite side of Rosealee Avenue from where police were investigating, Higgins said. All students who had arrived by then were brought into the cafeteria instead of being asked to wait outside. A "robocall" went out to parents about 8 a.m. informing them there was a situation and a Facebook post also went up on the schools' page, Higgins said. Administrators and staff "did a very good job" managing arrivals to keep students away from the scene, she said. The daily school schedule was not shortened in any way, and counselors were available Tuesday — and will be available today — for any students who need someone to talk to. There were never any discussions about canceling school for the day or a delay of two hours, Higgins said. "It all happened very quickly at a time when they're preparing to open the doors" at the school, she said. "Even on snow days when we're calling school off, we have to do it by 5:30 a.m. It's a matter of a lot of students coming from a lot of different places. That's not to sound insensitive in any way. It's obviously a very traumatic thing and we tried to address that and have support services available for kids today who might have inadvertently seen something." Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him @daveobrienCT on Twitter.