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Three students were shot outside Pittsburgh Brashear High School in Beechview this afternoon after school let out, Pittsburgh police said.
Major crimes unit Lt. Kevin Kraus said police, including members of the SWAT team, surrounded 1528 and 1530 Rockland Ave. following the shooting and took at least four people into custody at both locations, including a small child. He said those people are being taken to headquarters to be questioned by homicide detectives. He did not clarify their connection to the investigation.
All of those shot were male. One of the students shot was grazed in a leg and foot. Another was hit in the neck and a shoulder. The third was grazed in the head and went back toward the school, where an administrator pulled him inside.
Pittsburgh public safety director Michael Huss said just before 5 p.m. the scene was secure and officers were being sent back to their usual assignments. He and acting police Chief Regina McDonald said students running back toward the school created initial confusion about where the shooting took place.
That confusion meant more police showed up at the school than were needed.
"We train on this, we plan that reaction when that call goes out, you go and neutralize it," Mr. Huss said.
The shooting at 590 Crane Ave. was reported about 2:50 p.m.. The school day there ends at 2:46 p.m. Police said three men dressed in black were reported shooting toward the school from a hill above.
An Allegheny General Hospital spokesman confirmed one male high school student was a patient and that his condition was considered stable. AGH trauma surgeon Alisa Cross said that student was expected to make a full recovery.
Police said the two other students were taken to UPMC Mercy.
Several streets nearby have been closed, including Crane Avenue at Fallowfield Avenue and Dagmar Avenue.
Police said the three people shot knew the shooter or shooters. Pittsburgh police said information from school officers indicated today's shooting might be linked to a fight at the school Oct. 18 -- possibly drug-related -- which led to a lockdown there for a week.
One student left the school and the lockdown was lifted, police said.
Jacklyn Reft, a Brashear junior, said about a hundred students were still in the building when the shooting began. She was at cheerleading practice.
"We all got into a little bit of a panic," she said.
She said she didn't remember the October fight or a lockdown -- but that there are always fights at the school.
The school uses a code over loudspeakers -- "Mrs. Red is in the building" -- to announce emergencies and schedules drills for that warning system throughout the school year, Jacklyn said.
That warning did not come today, she said.
Instead, faculty and administrators came quietly and got students who were still in building.
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 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."
Major crimes unit Lt. Kevin Kraus said police, including members of the SWAT team, surrounded 1528 and 1530 Rockland Ave. following the shooting and took at least four people into custody at both locations, including a small child. He said those people are being taken to headquarters to be questioned by homicide detectives. He did not clarify their connection to the investigation.
All of those shot were male. One of the students shot was grazed in a leg and foot. Another was hit in the neck and a shoulder. The third was grazed in the head and went back toward the school, where an administrator pulled him inside.
Pittsburgh public safety director Michael Huss said just before 5 p.m. the scene was secure and officers were being sent back to their usual assignments. He and acting police Chief Regina McDonald said students running back toward the school created initial confusion about where the shooting took place.
That confusion meant more police showed up at the school than were needed.
"We train on this, we plan that reaction when that call goes out, you go and neutralize it," Mr. Huss said.
The shooting at 590 Crane Ave. was reported about 2:50 p.m.. The school day there ends at 2:46 p.m. Police said three men dressed in black were reported shooting toward the school from a hill above.
An Allegheny General Hospital spokesman confirmed one male high school student was a patient and that his condition was considered stable. AGH trauma surgeon Alisa Cross said that student was expected to make a full recovery.
Police said the two other students were taken to UPMC Mercy.
Several streets nearby have been closed, including Crane Avenue at Fallowfield Avenue and Dagmar Avenue.
Police said the three people shot knew the shooter or shooters. Pittsburgh police said information from school officers indicated today's shooting might be linked to a fight at the school Oct. 18 -- possibly drug-related -- which led to a lockdown there for a week.
One student left the school and the lockdown was lifted, police said.
Jacklyn Reft, a Brashear junior, said about a hundred students were still in the building when the shooting began. She was at cheerleading practice.
"We all got into a little bit of a panic," she said.
She said she didn't remember the October fight or a lockdown -- but that there are always fights at the school.
The school uses a code over loudspeakers -- "Mrs. Red is in the building" -- to announce emergencies and schedules drills for that warning system throughout the school year, Jacklyn said.
That warning did not come today, she said.
Instead, faculty and administrators came quietly and got students who were still in building.
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 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."
this type of shit is getting ridiculous
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