Allegheny County Police said a total of eight people were shot at a home in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania Wednesday night. Zappala said police talked to one victim at the hospital, but “we haven’t developed that enough to give some definite detail to (describe a gunman’s) face”.
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The deadly shooting reportedly happened when two unidentified men arrived at the backyard of a home at around 10:54 p.m. Wednesday.
Two males remain in critical condition.
Wilkinsburg, a borough east of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, has about 15,800 residents, according to U.S. Census data.
One of the dead, Tina Shelton, was a mother of five who held down three jobs and was encouraged by family members to attend the barbeque as a way to relax after work, her father Vernes Pugh and other relatives told local station WPXI-TV. Three of the four women and the man were pronounced dead at the scene, and the fourth woman died after being taken to an area trauma center.
Zappala further said, “It wasn’t like he was just squeezing shots off randomly”. Chanetta Powell was eight months pregnant, Allegheny County police Superintendent Charles Moffatt told reporters.
A prosecutor says a man with a pistol opened fire on the partygoers, driving them in the direction of an accomplice who gunned them down with a rifle. She said one of the critically wounded victims is her son.
“We do not have any suspects in custody and the motive is not exceptionally clear at this point”, said Lieutenant Andrew Schurman of the Allegheny County Police Department.
“It appears it was targeted”, Moffatt said of the shooters’ motives.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the shooting.
However, evidence at the crime scene pointed to two shooters who used an AK47 automatic rifle and a. 9 millimeter handgun, he said.
“There’s no indication that this was either a stash house or they were running an operation out of here”, he added. “One victim was trying to get into the doorway” when a gunman fired from a few feet away.
Carl Morris and his son, Robert, were getting ready to leave their house across the street when they heard a volley of three shots, a pause, then gunfire lasting more than a minute.
Investigators said two types of shell casings were found at the scene – some that housed.
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WPXI reported that some said they had lost family members.
