UNIONTOWN, Pa. (AP) – State police were searching for a man they considered “armed and dangerous” after a young woman was shot in her southwestern Pennsylvania home.
Troopers from the Uniontown barracks were not immediately identifying the victim who was believed to be in her teens or early 20s.
Fayette County 911 dispatchers say the shooting was reported about 9:20 a.m. Thursday in North Union Township, which is about 35 miles south of Pittsburgh. The woman was taken to an unspecified hospital.
Laurel Highlands High School and R.W. Clark Elementary school, which are both near the shooting scene, were briefly locked down as a precaution.
Police say they’re looking for a 6-foot-7, Black man wearing a tan hat and jacket and jeans driving a white Chevrolet Avalanche with New York plates. The suspect, who police haven’t named, is in his 30s.
2 teens now charged with homicide in group home assault
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Two teen residents of a Pittsburgh group home have now been charged with criminal homicide in the assault of a third resident, a 16-year-old boy.
The Allegheny County medical examiner’s office on Thursday ruled Nicholas Grant’s death a homicide, after determining he died from a lack of oxygen caused by having his neck squeezed. Grant died days after Saturday night’s attack at the Circle C Group Home in the city’s Carrick neighborhood.
And online court records show police have now charged a 15-year-old and 16-year-old with criminal homicide, on top of aggravated assault and conspiracy charges they already faced.
The teens were still awaiting arraignment early Friday.
The defendants are charged as adults, but The Associated Press generally does not identify minors charged with crimes. Court records don’t list defense attorneys
State pays $650K to settle suit for shooting motorist
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The state has paid $650,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a woman who claimed her son was wrongly killed by a state trooper who previously was the subject of a $12.5 million settlement for fatally shooting an unarmed 12-year-old boy in the back.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (https://bit.ly/1u9V5iq ) reported the settlement Friday based on documents it received in a Right-to-Know request from the state attorney general’s office.
The documents show the state paid $650,000 to settle its share of a federal lawsuit stemming from the death of Nicholas Haniotakis (han-yoh-TAY’-kis).
State Trooper Samuel Nassan fatally shot Haniotakis when he allegedly tried to hit officers with his vehicle after a short chase in Pittsburgh in March 2009.
Nassan also shot 12-year-old Michael Ellerbe after a 2002 stolen car chase, leading to the earlier settlement.
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Information from: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, https://pghtrib.com
Study: Education funding formula could level playing field
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – An education funding formula could help remedy wide spending disparities among school districts in Pennsylvania and would likely mean more state aid for perpetually cash-strapped Philadelphia, according to a study released Thursday.
A formula that takes into account districts’ wealth and its students’ needs “probably would reduce the substantial variations in overall education revenue among urban, rural, and suburban districts in the state,” said the report by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Education advocates have been pushing Pennsylvania lawmakers to devise what they view as a more equitable way to distribute state aid. A funding formula commission is expected to issue a report by June.
Pennsylvania, Delaware and North Carolina are the only states without funding formulas, according to the Education Law Center.
The Pew researchers cautioned that a formula, by itself, does not guarantee an infusion of state aid.
But they added that “regardless of the level of overall funding from Pennsylvania, a new formula would almost certainly provide Philadelphia with a larger share of state education money than it receives under the current system.”
Pew said a formula might also reduce state funding to wealthier suburban districts with smaller numbers of high-needs students, narrowing the wide spending disparity between those districts and poor ones.
The report examined 10 districts in the state representing a variety of demographics: urban Philadelphia, Erie, Pittsburgh and Reading; rural Connellsville, Solanco and West Perry; and suburban Lower Merion, Council Rock and Radnor Township.
It also compared Philadelphia with 10 urban systems nationwide that use funding formulas. Researchers found seven of those districts spend more per-pupil than Philadelphia.
Among the report’s findings:
– Although the affluent districts of Council Rock, Lower Merion and Radnor received less per student in state funding than the urban and rural districts, they still were able to spend significantly more in 2012-13 because they get most of their revenue from local property and income taxes. Lower Merion spent nearly twice as much ($26,812) per student as Philadelphia ($14,683), and more than twice as much as Connellsville, Erie, Reading, Solanco and West Perry.
– Philadelphia, the state’s largest district, got nearly 46 percent of its revenue from the state in 2013-14, slightly higher than average among the 10 large districts to which it was compared.
BELTZHOOVER SHOOTING UNDER INVESTIGATION
PITTSBURGH, PA – At approximately 2:10 p.m., Zone 3 Police Officers responded to a shooting near the intersection of Climax Street and Gearing Avenue in Beltzhoover. A 22-year-old male from Sheraden was shot in both legs while in his car.
The victim was taken to UPMC Mercy where he is in stable condition.
According to the investigation, a blue Buick Rendevous was seen leaving the scene at the time of the shooting.
Anyone with information that may be helpful to this ongoing investigation is encouraged to call 911. Callers can request to remain anonymous.
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