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Clairton man charged in South Side shooting during St. Patrick’s Day celebration

Justin Vellucci
By Justin Vellucci
2 Min Read March 17, 2025 | 9 months Ago
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A Clairton man remains jailed after being charged with shooting someone early Sunday during St. Patrick’s Day revelry in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood.

The victim, who was shot in the buttocks, was taken to UPMC Mercy hospital.

City camera footage showed Joseph Vance Brown, 20, fire multiple shots after running toward a gray Dodge Charger about 2:45 a.m., a criminal complaint said.

At least one bullet struck a man in the driver’s seat of the Dodge, which was parked on East Carson Street.

The victim, who police did not name, “denied knowing anything other than hearing gunfire before realizing he had been shot,” the complaint said. A passenger inside the car was not injured.

Video footage obtained by TribLive showed a line of police officers early Sunday advancing through the East Carson Street business district from 17th Street toward throngs of partygoers near 18th Street.

Shots were fired minutes later near East Carson and 18th streets.

Police apprehended Brown after he tried to run away and threw a gun under a red SUV in a nearby Burger King parking lot, the complaint said.

Investigators matched the gun to what police said were six .40-caliber rounds recovered at the crime scene, according to the complaint.

Brown was charged with two counts each of aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person, one count of tampering with evidence, and two firearms-related counts.

Brown cannot legally carry a gun because he was adjudicated delinquent on a firearms charge when he was a minor, the complaint said.

Brown’s bail was set at $50,000. He was taken to the Allegheny County Jail and faces a preliminary hearing on March 25.

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About the Writers

Justin Vellucci is a TribLive reporter covering crime and public safety in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. A longtime freelance journalist and former reporter for the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, he worked as a general assignment reporter at the Trib from 2006 to 2009 and returned in 2022. He can be reached at jvellucci@triblive.com.

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