3 shot at Pittsburgh Brashear High School

November 13, 2013 4:08 PM


Bob Donaldson / Post-Gazette

Police activity at the intersection of Crane and Lowenhill near Brashear High School after a reported shooting.

By Molly Born and Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Three people were shot at Pittsburgh Brashear High School in Beechview this afternoon, an Allegheny County dispatch supervisor said.

Police and K-9 units are searching the nearby woods for the shooter, the dispatcher supervisor said.

Police said three men dressed in black were reported shooting toward the school from a hill above.

All three people were shot outside, police said. A bullet grazed one person. The conditions of the other two people shot was not known, police said. An Allegheny General Hospital spokesman confirmed one male high school student was a patient and that his condition was considered stable.

Several streets nearby have been closed, including Crane Avenue at Fallowfield Avenue and Dagmar Avenue. Traffic was at a standstill just before 3:30 p.m.

The shooting at 590 Crane Ave. was reported about 2:50 p.m., the supervisor said. The school day there ends at 2:46 p.m.

Brashear is Pittsburgh Public Schools' largest high school by enrollment with 1,416 students. A portion of the same building houses South Hills Middle School, which has 580 students.

Pittsburgh Public Schools spokesman Ebony Pugh said the three people shot were taken for hospital treatment but that none of the injuries appears to be life-threatening.

She said South Hills Middle School students were still in their building, which used to be part of the high school building, and were in lockdown. Their regular dismissal time is 3:51, and she anticipated they might be dismissed on time.

Nick LoRusso, of Beechview, was standing in his backyard two streets uphill from Brashear when he heard a boom and what he said sounded like seven or eight shots from a semi-automatic weapon.
Then he heard sirens.

Pittsburgh Public Schools board president Sharene Shealey said, "It's just really sad that children can't go to school and be safe. I hope they catch whoever did this. I hope those kids are OK, and I'm praying for their families."

School board member Sherry Hazuda's backyard abuts the woods where the suspect or suspects were being sought. Her district includes Brashear.

"It's horrible," she said, adding, "I am praying for the kids. They need to be OK ... It's just sad."

Robert Zullo and Lexi Belculfine contributed. First Published November 13, 2013 3:11 PM

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