PITTSBURGH —SWAT was called after a dispute in Arlington Sunday afternoon.
Pittsburgh police responded to the 2800 block of Spring Street around noon for man in dispute with his neighbors.
When officers arrived, they were alerted that the man went inside of his residence. Police say the man refused the commands from officers to come outside.
Police learned the man had warrants after he had barricaded himself inside the house.
Upon the arrival of SWAT, the suspect walked out of the house and surrendered to police without incident.
A Wilkinsburg man with ties to two high-profile cases pleaded guilty Wednesday to involuntary manslaughter in an unrelated shooting.
Demetres Beck, 26, admitted to Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Edward J. Borkowski that he and a friend, Kierre Simmons, participated in a robbery on Dec. 29, 2014.
According to Deputy District Attorney Ilan Zur, Beck and Simmons went to a home in North Braddock to buy marijuana that day, but then pulled guns and tried to rob the two men selling it.
Police said Beck pulled the trigger first, and the sellers had guns and returned fire.
Simmons, 25, of Shadyside, was killed.
Beck was ordered to serve 2-1/2 to five years in prison to be followed by three years probation.
Defense attorney Casey White said his client has already serve 55 months in custody.
During the hearing, Beck apologized to the court for his actions.
ELIZABETH, Pa. (KDKA) — Hundreds of people have shown up for a license to carry and medicine dropoff event at the Forward Township Municipal Building.
KDKA crews observed 226 people showed up between the hours of 8 and 10 a.m.
People are also asked to bring a completed application, a valid PA driver’s license or ID and $20 cash.
The agencies are also hosting Project D.U.M.P. and people can drop off unused or expired medications. The agencies say that glass bottles, liquids, syringes, inhalers/insulin and creams will not be accepted.
PITTSBURGH —A 19-year-old woman was killed in a shooting in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office identified the victim early Thursday morning as Kwaeonte Carpenter, of Pittsburgh.
Police said the incident began a little after 8:30 p.m. when they got a Shotspotter alert on the 300 block of Flowers Avenue in the city’s Hazelwood neighborhood.
Responding officers said a vehicle stopped in front of them on Blair Street near the intersection with Eliza Street with two gunshot victims inside.
Carpenter was shot in the shoulder and taken to the hospital, where she died.
Police said it was reported that two men invaded the home in the 2900 block of Grover Street in McKeesport. A witness told police there was a knock at the rear door of the home and when they answered, a firearm was pointed in their face.
A witness identified Hale, and it was reported that Hale hit Gutierrez-Faust in the head and face multiple times and then strangled him, according to the criminal complaint.
The second suspect, still unidentified, then reached into Gutierrez-Faust’s pocket after and took money and crack cocaine, according to the document.
Police said it was reported that two men invaded the home in the 2900 block of Grover Street in McKeesport. A witness told police there was a knock at the rear door of the home and when they answered, a firearm was pointed in their face.
A witness identified Hale, and it was reported that Hale hit Gutierrez-Faust in the head and face multiple times and then strangled him, according to the criminal complaint.
The second suspect, still unidentified, then reached into Gutierrez-Faust’s pocket after and took money and crack cocaine, according to the document.
An Allegheny County man died after he was involved in a crash Friday evening in Hampton, the county Office of the Medical Examiner said.
Douglas Hanson, 57, died at Allegheny General Hospital after the single-vehicle wreck in the 4000 block of Branding Place, according to the office. It listed his home as the Allison Park area.
The county had reported a vehicle over a hillside late Friday at the Branding Place location. It occurred shortly before 7 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.
Hampton police could not be reached immediately early Saturday.
PENN HILLS (KDKA) — Allegheny County Police are investigating a deadly shooting that took place in Penn Hills.
Police say 32-year-old Jamal Pamplin was shot several times just before midnight on Saturday night along Frankstown Road.
Pamplin was taken to an area hospital where he later died.
Allegheny County Police say that their initial investigations shows that Pamplin was shot while in the Monroe Muffler parking lot across from the Numbers Lounge, and that several vehicles were in the Monroe Muffler parking lot at the time.
Police are asking anyone who was in the area of Monroe Muffler or Numbers Lounge around midnight on Saturday night to contact the Allegheny County Police’s Homicide Unit.
By Mary Niederberger
Pittsburgh Current Education Writer
mary@pittsburghcurrent.com
A month ago, the future of the community learning hubs that were serving more than 1,700 students who needed a supervised setting during online school days in the fall was uncertain as initial funding was running dry.
But now, the Allegheny County Department of Human Services has partnered with local foundations to ensure that 60 hubs throughout the county will remain open through the school year if they are needed.
Elaine Plunkett, DHS communications specialist, said the department has already secured $500,000 in foundation funding and is applying for grants with additional foundations at the same time it is leveraging department funds to keep the hubs in operation.
Currently, three foundations have agreed to provide some funding. Those foundations and grant amounts are: the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, $100,000; Jefferson Regional Foundation, $200,000; and McElhattan Foundation $200,000.
“The 60 learning hubs (30 are outside of Pittsburgh) are critical resources for children and families,” Plunkett wrote in an email.
Those sentiments were echoed by James Fogarty, executive director of A+Schools advocacy group.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The family of former Pittsburgh Steeler Sam Davis is suing a personal care home in McKeesport, claiming negligence in connection with his death.
A lawsuit was filed against New Life Personal Care Home, Inc. in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.
The lawsuit says in 1991 during his football career, Davis sustained a significant head injury that worsened over time. According to the lawsuit, Davis lived on the second floor of the facility and had access to a private staircase, though he was legally blind and “had difficulty ambulating.”
He was reported missing in September when he failed to show up for breakfast, the lawsuit says, and was found 14 hours later, dead at the bottom of the stairs.
“During the entire 14-hour time that Sam was missing, the Defendant facility failed to discover Sam’s body in this stairwell. Sam was alive and capable of being saved after his fall down the staircase, but Defendant’s delay caused or contributed to his death,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit is claiming damages pursuant to the Pennsylvania Wrongful Death Act.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — State Police are investigating after a person was found shot along Maple Grove Road in Robinson Township.
Washington County dispatchers tell KDKA that the person was found shot on the side of the road near Steubenville Pike. Police said a man was airlifted to a Pittsburgh hospital.
PENN HILLS, Pa. (KDKA) — Police say a man is in critical condition after a shooting in Penn Hills.
On Monday, the Allegheny County Police Department said it was notified of a shooting in the 8800 block of Marion Way. Law enforcement says first responders found a 47-year-old man who was shot multiple times.
He was taken to a local hospital, and police are investigating
“There was not a single violent tendency in that man, you can tell by looking at his record. And his entire criminal record is because of alcoholism and substance-use disorder, homelessness and poverty.”
For days, members of the Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board did not know who had really died within the walls of the jail on November 26. That is because they were emailed an old notice, a death copy-and-pasted from before, from another death that took place inside the ACJ earlier this year.
Jail administrators didn’t realize their error for nearly a week, according to Allegheny County Councilor at Large Bethany Hallam, who is also a member of the jail oversight board. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing: administrators had mistaken the jail’s most recent death for another, a suicide that occurred in June. To Hallam, it felt careless.
(The Allegheny County jail has one of the highest suicide rates in the country. There were nine suicides at the facility between 2016 and June of this year.)
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A man acquitted in the slayings of five people and an unborn baby at a western Pennsylvania cookout more than 4 1/2 years ago has pleaded guilty to a firearms charge in an unrelated case.
Cheron Shelton, 33, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. He was accused of having possessed a rifle and ammunition although a felony drug conviction barred him from owning a firearm.
The firearm charge came less than two weeks after Shelton was acquitted of first- and third-degree murder in the March 2016 shootings in Wilkinsburg. Charges in that case had been dismissed earlier against 31-year-old Robert Thomas. Authorities had alleged that he opened fire and Shelton then gunned down victims running onto a porch. Authorities alleged they were targeting someone Shelton believed was involved in the 2013 murder of a friend.
Allegheny County homicide detectives are investigating the death of a person whose body was found in the river near Pine Creek.
SHALER TOWNSHIP, Pa. —
Allegheny County police are investigating the death of a person whose body was found in the Allegheny River on Wednesday morning.
Police said 911 was notified of the body near Pine Creek in Shaler Township shortly before 8:30 a.m.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office identified the man as David Lesser, 54, of Pittsburgh.
“First responders found a middle-aged white male in the river with no signs of trauma. The victim was pronounced dead on scene. Homicide detectives are initiating the investigation,” police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call county police at 833-ALL-TIPS. Anonymous calls will be accepted.
This is a developing story. Stay with Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 for updates. Download the WTAE mobile app to stay connected with breaking news.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A video gaining attention on social media is raising concerns about the quality of food at the Allegheny County Jail.
Teresa Brown says she was video chatting with her nephew, an inmate at the jail, Saturday. He showed her what was on his tray for dinner and asked her to record it.
“This is the dinner that they’re serving us in the jail tonight,” the man says in the video. “Bologna with applesauce in it and Teddy Grahams. That’s the only thing that’s on our tray for dinner tonight.
”The man also asks his aunt to “make this go viral.
”Brown posted the video on social media where it has received attention from the public and local leaders.
“Animals eat better than the way my nephew was eating yesterday,” Brown said.
Someone sent the video to At-Large Allegheny County Councilwoman Bethany Hallam who also sits on the county’s jail oversight board.
Hallam says she’s heard from several inmates’ relatives about conditions inside the jail and received more complaints than usual on Saturday.
PENN HILLS (KDKA) — Police are investigating a deadly shooting of a 15-year-old boy outside an apartment complex in Penn Hills.
The person or persons responsible for shooting and killing the boy is still out there as of Tuesday afternoon. As of right now, there are no suspects and no motive.
The medical examiner identified the teenager as Jafar Brooks.
“At about 12:41 a.m., the Penn Hills Police were called to the 1900 block of Garden Drive,” said Allegheny County Police Department Inspector Michael Peairs.
(Photo Credit: KDKA Photojournalist Brian Smithmyer)
That’s where they found a male victim lying next to a black Escalade in the parking lot of the Leechburg Garden Apartments. He died on the scene after being shot multiple times. The Allegheny County Police Homicide Unit stepped in.
“We believe it to be an approximately 15-year-old male. We believe that male drove to the scene in that vehicle from a neighboring community,” said Peairs.
KDKA spoke with neighbors who say they heard at least six gunshots.
(Photo Credit: KDKA Photojournalist Brian Smithmyer)
Peairs says multiple people were involved.
“We have evidence to believe that there were several individuals that had an interaction with him at that time, so we’re working on that,” he said.
Police are also focused on the Escalade. It was towed to the police department this morning. Its passenger and back windows were shattered by bullets.
Four companies in Allegheny County have been named among the Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania.
Ryan LLC, a consulting firm in Downtown Pittsburgh; Total Quality Logistics, a logistics firm located in Kennedy Township; Maher Duessel, an accounting firm on Pittsburgh’s North Shore; and KU Resources, Inc., an environmental consultant in Duquesne all made the list, which is made up of companies from across the state.
The county reported 603 new cases over the weekend. There have been 29,007 cases since the outbreak began in March. That’s up from 28,404 from Monday.
There have been 2.015 hospitalizations in the county during the outbreak.County Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen again said she was worried about the ongoing spike of coronavirus cases in the county.”
I expect to see a rise in new cases of COVID-19 from Thanksgiving and remained concerned that if our cases continue to rise at this rate, it will strain the capacity and staff of our region’s hospitals,” she said.With 9,261 cases in Westmoreland County, 4,609 in Washington County, 4,532 in Butler County and 4,024 in Beaver County, that brings the total number of cased to 51,533 when Allegheny County numbers are included. That’s up from 50,115 on Monday.
Ten employees of the Allegheny County Jail have tested positive for COVID-19 and another 50 are currently quarantined as a result of community exposure and are not exposures from the workplace. The quarantines have left the jail short staffed.
“While these steps will impact staffing levels at the facility, we have worked with the union leadership to ensure the proper staffing to maintain the safety and security of all inmates and employees. We are confident that these measures will ensure the necessary levels of staffing for the continued security of the facility.
“We also continue to follow the advice of the facility’s medical provider as it relates to precautions for inmates. As has been done since the very beginning of this pandemic, those measures are in line with the guidance provided by the CDC, PA Department of Health, PA Department of Corrections, and the Allegheny County Health Department.”
But, according to sources inside the Allegheny County Jail and sources familiar with the massive exposure, employees were exposed at two recent, large social events — a party and a wedding — where many employees were in attendance.
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PITTSBURGH —SWAT was called after a dispute in Arlington Sunday afternoon.
