School community reeling after Toledo teen shot walking home

Antoria Stewart, 16, left, and Aaliya Hood, 15, right, grieve the slaying of their friend Tyler McIntoush, 16, who was found shot dead in front of 2957 Collingwood Blvd. near Nottingham Terrace.

THE BLADE/AMY E. VOIGT
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Jodi Johns, principal of Maritime Academy, says Tyler McIntoush ‘‍was a good kid.’

Tyler McIntoush, 16, made sure his friend was safely home before turning for home himself at 3 a.m. Thursday. He never made it back.

“It doesn’t matter why he was out at 3 a.m.,” said Jodi Johns, principal of Maritime Academy, where Tyler was a rising junior, at a news conference on Friday. “He was a boy with a bright future ahead who was shot for no reason. Nobody can understand it.”

Students said people reported hearing gunfire, but no one called the police until his body was found 20 minutes later in front of 2957 Collingwood Blvd with shots to the head and leg. The case is being investigated as a homicide.

Ms. Johns said Tyler loved art and music, especially Lady Gaga’s, and he was devastated when her highly anticipated tour was canceled last year.

Outside school, he was a member of the drum corps, and worked nights at Netty’s. He planned to leave Toledo one day for college, and to see the rest of the world.

McIntoush

In the lunch line, down the halls, and with his friends, he danced, his friends said. “Hey, take a picture with me, wouldja?” he was known to ask cute girls he saw at the mall.

“He really was a good kid,” Ms. Johns said. Antoria and Ashley Stewart, both 16, their arms around each other, echoed their principal over and over. “It doesn’t make sense.”

Maritime Academy is holding a public vigil for Tyler at 8 p.m. Sunday on the school’s front lawn. The school requests that attendees wear pink, Tyler’s favorite color.

Donations should be made out to the Maritime Academy of Toledo Foundation, and designated “Tyler Memorial Fund.”

Contact Jennifer Gersten at: jgersten@theblade.com, 419-724-6050, or on Twitter @jenwgersten.