Justin Vellucci stories, Page 43
Pittsburgh police respond to gunshots fired near 2 Downtown schools
Police responded Tuesday afternoon to gunfire in front of two Downtown Pittsburgh schools. The incident occurred at 3:30 p.m. in the 900 block of Penn Avenue, in front of Urban Pathways K-5 College Charter School and Passport Academy Charter School. “At this time it is not known what led to...
Allegheny County councilwoman disputes claim that Shuman closure led to spike in gun, youth violence
In the aftermath of last week’s triple homicide on the North Side, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey blamed increased gun and youth violence, in part, on the closure of Shuman Juvenile Detention Center. “We should have never closed Shuman without a plan,” Gainey said during a news conference related to the...
Mon Valley air quality prompts another pollution warning
Unfavorable weather conditions led the Allegheny County Health Department to extend a weekend warning about Mon Valley air quality through at least Tuesday morning. On Monday morning, the Mon Valley “experienced one of the strongest weather inversions in some time,” the health department said in a countywide email alert. A...
Police: Turtle Creek motorist shoots another motorist
A Turtle Creek man was arrested after shooting a fellow motorist in the shoulder while driving, Allegheny County Police said Monday. Matthew Alfaro, 23, was charged with aggravated assault, carrying a firearm without a license, and recklessly endangering another person. He was taken to Allegheny County Jail for arraignment. Around...
Community meetings set in search for next Pittsburgh police chief
Beth Pittinger thinks about Pittsburgh Police’s next chief and sees a world of opportunity. The director of the Citizens Police Review Board believes retired Chief Scott Schubert’s successor, who Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey plans to appoint after a national search, could be a beacon for accountability. “It would need to...
Squirrel Hill residents concerned about intersection near Fern Hollow Bridge
Some Squirrel Hill residents are petitioning Pittsburgh officials to temporarily hold off on reconfiguring a dangerous intersection in their neighborhood. City officials, however, claim the proposed work needs to be done quickly because money for it is included in the $25.3 million of federal funding being used to pay for...
11-year-old hit by car in Pittsburgh
An 11-year-old girl was hospitalized after being hit by a car Friday afternoon near a school in Carrick. The girl, who was identified as a Pittsburgh Southbrook School student, was meeting a younger sibling who attends Pittsburgh Concord School when the incident occurred, school spokesperson Ebony Pugh said. The girl...
Volunteer firefighter from Collier died in Parkway East crash
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office on Thursday identified the man who died in a crash the day before on the Parkway East as 32-year-old Terry Tackett. Tackett, a volunteer firefighter who lived in Collier, was taken to UPMC Mercy in Uptown after the crash happened around 6:20 a.m. Wednesday...
2 school officers injured breaking up fight at Oliver Citywide Academy, police say
Two Pittsburgh Public School officers were injured after a fight broke out Thursday afternoon at Pittsburgh Oliver Citywide Academy on the city’s North Side, officials said. The two officers’ injuries were “not too severe,” Pittsburgh Public School spokeswoman Ebony Pugh told the Tribune-Review. The two individuals planned to go to...
Critics of Move PGH pilot program say it’s not adequately serving disabled, low-income residents
Move PGH and Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure recently lauded a two-year pilot program that brought Spin e-scooters to the city, but some critics say the effort isn’t doing enough to serve disabled and low-income residents. “This is the most extreme example of marginalizing the disability community I’ve seen...
2 women killed in North Side shooting were innocent bystanders, police say; 3rd victim ID’d
A 33-year-old mother of four was among three people killed Saturday night when a gas-station parking lot argument escalated into an exchange of gunfire. Jacquelyn Mehalic was on her way to work as a waitress around 10 p.m. Saturday when gunfire broke out in the 300 and 400 blocks of...
