LORAIN — Police are looking for a man they say shot his friend in the foot after a verbal argument Friday afternoon.

Randall Lee Taylor Jr., 23, fled from a home in the 1200 block of Massachusetts Avenue after shooting his friend, 30-year-old Desmond Johnson about 1 p.m., according to Lorain police Lt. Roger Watkins. It wasn’t clear what the two were arguing about.

Taylor fled in a blue Chevrolet Lumina that officers located in the south side of Lorain. Three schools in the area, Whittier Middle, Helen Steiner Rice Elementary and Palm Elementary, were on lockdown for about an hour while officers looked for Taylor, but he was not found. The case is being forwarded to the prosecutor’s office for a possible warrant, Watkins said.

The bullet did not penetrate Johnson’s skin, and reports at the scene were that Taylor fired a shot in the air and one into the ground,  which grazed Johnson.

Taylor already has warrants out for his arrest for not appearing at two sentencing hearings related to convictions last month for felonious assault and another for having a weapon under disability and unlawful possession of a dangerous ordinance, according to court records.

LaGRANGE — This morning’s death of Sam DiFrancesco, a Lorain County Drug Task Force member, was suicide according to Lorain County Coroner Paul Matus.
LaGrange police were called to Taylor Boulevard just before 7 this morning after a female in the house heard a gunshot.
DiFrancesco, 51, was found dead on a recliner in the basement.

SHEFFIELD LAKE — An 81-year-old Sheffield Lake man managed to escape his burning home by jumping out of a bedroom window this morning after it apparently exploded.

The Fire Department received a 911 call at 6:50 a.m. reporting a house explosion and responded to 455 Abbe Road. Initial reports were that someone was trapped in the home, but firefighters located the man — Robert Juresek, 81, in the backyard.

Firefighters found the home’s attached garage fully engulfed in flames, which quickly spread to the home. The garage contained three vehicles, all of which sustained heavy damage.

Juresek told firefighters he was awakened by the explosion and that the home quickly filled with smoke. He jumped through a window, he said. He was treated at the scene but declined to go to a hospital.

The Red Cross and neighbors are assisting him with finding somewhere to stay, according to the fire department.

The state fire marshal’s office is assisting in the investigation into the fire.

Abbe Road was blocked for much of the day and remained closed at 2 p.m.

Besides firefighters from Sheffield Lake, Avon, Avon Lake, Lorain and Sheffield responded.

Elyria Schools voted this morning at a special board meeting to sell Erie Elementary School to Education Alternatives for $612,000.

Education Alternatives already rents Edison Elementary School.

Erie Elementary is at 33 Naples Drive and was closed by the district at the end of the 2008-09 school year. It went up for auction earlier this month after the decision was made by the district to unload four closed schools from its real estate portfolio. Erie, Roosevelt, Edison and Eastgate schools all were offered for sale.

A Gates Mills couple who first tried to buy Erie at the public auction only to have board members unanimously reject the offer had sued the school district to stop the sale of the building to another buyer.