Less than a week after a fatal shooting in McKeesport’s Crawford Village housing complex, a man was shot on the complex’s basketball court in broad daylight only moments after several children had been playing there.
McKeesport police Capt. Tim Hanna was quick to say the June 2 shooting was unrelated to any previous shootings and was the result of an argument about “an earlier incident” on which he would not comment.
One week before, jitney driver John Haas was shot in the head at Crawford Village in what police speculate was a case of mistaken identity.
Allegheny County Homicide Lt. Andrew Schurman said Haas’ car is similar to one driven by a gang member who may be involved in several local shootings.
Hanna said there were multiple reports of shootings earlier that day, but with no one injured, he could not say if any were related to Haas’ death or each other.
Hanna was the second jitney driver killed in as many months joining Monica Proviano, 26, who was robbed and murdered in Wilkinsburg April 10 by 19-year-old ex-convicts William McGraw and Timothy Brock.
Communities East of Pittsburgh and in the Mon Valley have seen a surge in homicides in recent weeks, dating to the March 26 afternoon gun battle in Clairton involving six individuals, one of whom, 34-year-old Terrance Moore died.
On May 29, 17-year-old Brian Hall allegedly shot two 19-year-olds, during an apparent drug deal in Wilkinsburg. The victims remain hospitalized and Hall is still at large.
Four days earlier, again in broad daylight 26-year-old DeVar Reid was shot multiple times in that back in the hallway of McKeesport’s HiView Gardens apartment complex. Two men were detained in Reid’s shooting, but later released.
One day before, 16-year-old Delasia Dutrieuille was apparently attempting to sell a gun in Rankin’s Hawkins Village housing complex when Londell Jones, also 16, allegedly stole it from her then shot her with it.
Laurence Short, 29, and Tyrone Coleman, 18, were allegedly shot in Duquesne May 6, again in broad daylight at about 5:30 p.m., by 26-year-old Michael Robinson. Coleman was apparently collateral damage in what police said was “an ongoing rivalry between family and associates” of Robinson and Short.
Coleman had been working at a pillow factory and planning to attend CCAC. He was a star athlete at West Mifflin High School, and by all accounts not involved in street life.
While some of these were clearly crimes of opportunity or personal, some like Haas’ death, are clearly related to gang activity. Of course the most shocking and brazen of these was the East Hills daylight picnic shooting that claimed the life of 1-year-old Marcus White on May 21.
Despite pleas from the family and community leaders, no one has yet come forward with information on the three men who opened fire on the crowd that day
With the seeming increase in daylight shootings, added to the fact that Brock was still driving Proviano’s car when arrested, and 20-year-old Christian Riley was in a stolen Cadillac with a stolen gun when arrested for his part in the Clairton shootout, are these killers getting bolder, more indifferent, reckless or just dumber?
Reverend Sheldon Stoudemire, who takes his anti-drug, anti-violence message to the streets of Clairton, Duquesne and McKeesport daily, said a lot of these young people just don’t care.
“They just don’t care. They think they are invincible,” he said. “I remember Tim Brock when I was teaching at Auberle. I never had a problem with him, but he wanted to be known as bad. He used to make up stories about killing people when he was 12 to try to show people how hard he was. Now look at him.”
Emails and calls to police for updates were not returned by New Pittsburgh Courier deadline.
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