String of suspicious fires, shooter on the loose disconcerting for New Kensington, Arnold residents

Melissa McCrory and some friends were sitting on the stoop of her Leishman Avenue home Monday when she heard a volley of gunfire ring out from somewhere up the street.

Moments later, she said, she encountered one of the people involved in a shooting that took place in the 1500 block of Woodmont Avenue, which forced local schools to go on lockdown and drew scores of police officers to the scene.

“I’ve had issues with people cutting through my yard because I don’t have a fence,” said McCrory, 36. “So when my neighbor said, ‘Hey, someone is coming through your yard,’ I got up, and I was face-to-face with the guy.

“I said, ‘Yo, what are you doing in my yard?’ Then he threw his hands up and said, ‘No disrespect, no disrespect’ and took off,” McCrory said.

The man wasn’t carrying a gun; he was wearing a camouflage-patterned hoodie that was covering his face, she said.

Her brief encounter with one of the suspects happened while a state police fire marshal was several doors away interviewing a neighbor about the string of four fires that broke out in the same area over the weekend that investigators said are suspicious, McCrory said.

McCrory said police cruisers were converging on the area when her path crossed with the suspect, who managed to elude capture.

“The fire marshal had his gun drawn and went after the guy, but he was already way down the block,” she said. “I saw him weaving in and out between the houses and cars.”

McCrory said she has several close friends and family members in the neighborhood who are worried for their safety.

“This just came out of nowhere,” she said. “Between the fires and the shooting, it’s pretty frightening. I worry about my kids being able to go outside and some random shooting like this happening.”

A gunshot victim showed up to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office.

“The gunshot wound victim in yesterday’s shooting has since been released,” said Melanie Jones, spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office. “No one charged, at this point. It remains under investigation.”

Beyond those details, investigators have not said whether they have identified a motive for the shooting or how many people were involved. Jones said Monday the fires and the shooting are unrelated.

A neighbor who asked not to be identified for their safety said they heard gunshots moments before seeing a man along North Street with a gun.

They said the gunman appeared to be struggling to load or unload the weapon before he took aim across North Street and fired several shots at another person in Woodbine Alley.

Dan Kelly, 75, who lives across the street from the house on Woodmont where the incident started, said he went out to his front porch when he heard gunshots.

“I saw guys running out of the house across the street,” he said. “They were all wearing hoodies, but I could tell they were young. One of them jumped out of that (third-story) window onto the porch roof and then into the grass.”

Kelly said he saw five or six men run from the house and scatter in several directions, including toward Leishman Avenue.

He said a white vehicle that was parked outside the house when the shooting happened was towed away by authorities Tuesday.

Shannon Singleton, 42, said it’s frightening to learn that investigators are trying to determine whether the four fires over the weekend were the work of an arsonist.

“A house fire is one of my biggest fears,” she said. “These things have definitely made me more aware of my surroundings and if there is anything out of place. I pray over my house every day.”

Police vehicles and unmarked cars were seen on Leishman Avenue near North Street in Arnold after the shooting as officers checked houses in the area.

A portion of Woodbine Alley between North and Catalpa streets was roped off with police tape, and as many as two dozen evidence markers dotted the alley close to North Street.

Some officers from neighboring departments were pulled from the scene of a fire in Harrison around 12:30 p.m. and sent to the area on the report of an active shooter, according to Harrison police Chief Brian Turack.

The large presence of emergency responders in Arnold startled area residents, who already had endured a hectic weekend that included a spate of fires. Three of the four fires that erupted Saturday morning through late Sunday took place on Leishman Avenue, one in New Kensington and two in Arnold, and one fire occurred on Fourth Avenue in Arnold.

The fires have been deemed suspicious, authorities said, and the state fire marshal and local police are investigating.

The lockdown at New Kensington-Arnold School District was lifted about 2 p.m. Monday, and students were sent home.