Later that night, catty-corner to the baseball diamond, a series of shots cut through the excited chatter and music of East Carson Street revelers. A young man ran along the streets bordering the park, leaving two trails of blood before collapsing nearby.

A police officer shines a flashlight towards the camera as police cruiser lights light up the walls along the scene of a shooting on 13th and East Carson Streets in Pittsburgh's South Side. The police officer carries a notebook in his hand, evidence markers are folded at his feet marking bullet casings. Empty picnic tables run along the right side of the frame.
Police mark bullet casings on the sidewalk of South 13th Street along East Carson Street as they investigate a shooting near Armstrong Park on Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)

Summer saw multiple shootings on Pittsburgh’s South Side and the temporary closure of at least one major lounge because the neighborhood had become “unstable,” as Foxtail nightclub’s owners put it, at night.

Residents were angry and fearful of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Bar customers began to change their habits, opting to leave the area early to avoid closing time conflicts, some deciding to spend their Saturday night in other places, like the North Shore. 

Keith Williams, a musician who goes by the name of Pittsburgh Hendy, holds on to a metal barricade while being let through the line at the club Enclave. He looks off to the right of the frame in a tie dye shirt and jeans. Behind him, a woman in a dress waits with him. To the left of the frame, other people wait in line, some with Steelers shirts on.“I leave by 1:45,” said Keith Williams, 32, of Wilkinsburg, “Cause when everybody gets out [of the clubs] that’s when they start actin’ a fool.” A musician who goes by the name of Pittsburgh Hendy, Williams is seen here being let through the line at the club Enclave. He tries to get in and out of South Side relatively quickly. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)

The neighborhood also noticed efforts to improve public safety. Meanwhile longstanding community events such as the South Side Community Council’s seventh annual South Side Garden Tour and South Side Chamber of Commerce’s community potluck mixed with newer opportunities to gather like South Side Works’ Music on the Mon series. The neighborhood ends the summer a little tarnished but with hope for the future. An exploration:

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