Slain ice cream man known as fixture in neighborhood

“My brother loved selling ice cream. He just loved selling it to kids,” Andy Banks said Wednesday. “That was his life.”

Police are looking for a young male, possibly as young as 15, seen running from the scene in the 4600 block of Midway after shots were heard.

“He comes through the neighborhood every day,” said Pattrice Ingram, who lives in the neighborhood.

“He was a nice guy, pretty much a fixture around here,” she said.

The neighborhood is one of tidy, small houses surrounding the apartment complex, just two blocks north of the Dayton National Cemetery.

According to police department’s statistics, the area around the shooting has had few reported crimes — none violent — in the past two months.

“His was the last of the soft-serve trucks,” said Sgt. Dan Mauch.

Andy Banks said he built the ice cream truck for his brother when Carl Banks was recovering from an industrial accident that limited his mobility. “He didn’t make any money. It got him out of the house. He’d work four, maybe five, hours a night, then come home before dark. It was more of a hobby.”

Tuesday evening, with temperatures still in the 90s, was probably a busy night for the ice cream truck, residents said. Wednesday, the playground at Whitmore Arms was deserted.

“When the kids in the neighborhood hear that music, they come running,” Adair Reynolds said as her two young children looked out the screen door of her apartment at Whitmore Arms. “He was a nice guy, and he’s been doing this for years. He’s pretty well-known around this end of town.”

Police originally thought it was an accident when someone called 911 around 6:15 p.m. to report that the truck hit a house at 4416 Midway Ave. Emergency crews found Carl Banks dead at the steering wheel, Sgt. John Sullivan said.

Mauch said detectives theorize that Banks, a divorced father of two, was the target of a robbery attempt gone bad.

Witnesses told police they heard two or three shots and saw a slightly-built young man dressed in red pants with a sweater pulled over his face, fleeing the scene.

“Many of the witnesses didn’t realize what they were seeing because he (Carl Banks) pulled away from the scene at a normal rate of speed,” Mauch said.

The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office said Banks died at the scene, less than 1½ miles from his home in the Town View neighborhood of Trotwood.

He was shot once in the abdomen, possibly a 9 mm, Mauch said. His was the city’s 22nd homicide of the year.

“It’s sad that all of this is about some kid trying to rob a businessman,” Mauch said.

Andy Banks was distraught over the death of his brother, whom he spoke with at least twice a day.

“It’s a sad world we live in when a man can’t do what he enjoys, selling ice cream to kids.”

Staff writers Kelli Wynn and Steve Bennish contributed to this report.