Shooting Incident in West Park: Cleveland Man Allegedly Targets Neighbor
A long-standing dispute between neighbors in West Park, Cleveland, culminated in a shooting last week, leaving 42-year-old Mark Thomas Jr. hospitalized and his next-door neighbor, 71-year-old Steven Rogers, accused of pulling the trigger.
From his hospital bed, Thomas expressed his fears: “I’m really terrified right now. I almost lost my life right in the middle of the street in broad daylight.”
In October 2022, Thomas and his fiancée, Kelly Slobodian, spoke to 19 News about harassment from Rogers’ three adult children and another man. The couple claimed they had been tormented by their neighbors for the past five years. “All this man has ever done was try to take him from me,” Slobodian said. “They’ve made our lives miserable.”
Their worst fears came to fruition when Thomas was shot last Friday morning. “As a nurse for decades and working in a trauma ICU for over 14 years, I’m sure you can imagine every terrible thought was in my head of, am I going to lose him?” Slobodian shared.
Surveillance footage captured Thomas leaving his home as Rogers’ car followed him. Around 9 A.M., Cleveland police found Thomas shot in the back near the intersection of W. 150th and Coe Avenue. “I’m running by this time, okay, he opens the door and starts, gets out,” Thomas recalled. “Remember, he’s an older guy. He gets out and starts shooting at me. I have no weapon. I am not a threat.”
Police apprehended Rogers near the scene with a firearm and charged him with felonious assault. In a previous interview in 2022, Rogers claimed that Thomas and Slobodian had been harassing his family for years. “I’m trying to keep my kids out of this,” he said.
Despite Rogers’ arrest, the couple expressed lingering fear. “No, not at all,” Slobodian said, recounting a troubling incident the night Thomas was hospitalized when someone threw something at their house.
In video footage from the 2022 assault, Rogers can be seen watching the altercation involving his children. The couple had obtained an order of protection against Rogers following the earlier incident. Although police arrested the four individuals involved in the 2022 assault and charged them with serious crimes, 19 Investigates found that all charges were dismissed.
Slobodian criticized the local authorities, stating, “The city dropped the ball like they did last time. We tried to get protection orders. They denied some of them. Our last protection order against Steven Rogers when it ran out, they would not extend it.”
Court records revealed that after the protection order expired, Rogers filed to have his gun returned, which a magistrate ultimately granted. Slobodian claimed, “The magistrate and the judge denied our motion to not allow him to have his gun back and gave it to him anyways.”
Thomas was shot once in the back, with the bullet traveling through his chest. He has already undergone one surgery. “It’s a miracle,” Slobodian said. “This isn’t going to end our story.”
“I ain’t going out like that,” Thomas added defiantly. “Steven Rogers doesn’t have control over us,” Slobodian asserted. “He needs to pay for what he did; this family needs to pay for what they did.”
Rogers is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday morning at Cleveland Municipal Court. Thomas remains in the hospital, and both he and Slobodian agree that returning to their West Park home feels unsafe.
