Year-in-review: Alle-Kiski Valley residents among victims at Trump rally assassination attempt
As 2024 draws to a close, Alle-Kiski Valley area residents may be looking forward to the uncertainty of the year to come while reflecting on what has passed.
And while the region always has its mix of news — big and small, widespread and personal — it found itself thrust, intimately and tragically, into arguably the top national, perhaps international, story of the year: the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler County.
Other top stories of the year, as chosen by the TribLive staff, included a nurse pleading guilty to murder and attempted murder; Tarentum residents attacked by dogs at the start of Halloween trick-or-treating; the bodies of long-missing people accidentally found in sunken cars; and a local girl organizing a concert to raise money for a police dog with an unexpected outcome.
Buffalo Township man killed, Plum man injured at Trump rally
While a 20-year-old Bethel Park man’s attempt to kill Trump at the Butler Farm Show grounds failed on July 13, the shots he fired killed one in the crowd and injured two others.
Secret Service snipers killed Thomas Crooks, but not before he wounded Trump and killed Corey Comperatore, of Buffalo Township, and wounded David Dutch, of Plum, and James Copenhaver, of Moon Township.
Trump returned to the Butler Farm Show grounds in October, leading up to what became his successful campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris to return to the White House for a second term.
A task force investigating the assassination attempt in December released dozens of recommendations to improve the U.S. Secret Service.
TribLive’s complete coverage of the incident and its fallout can be found here.
‘Killer nurse’ pleads guilty, sentenced to life
Heather Pressdee, 41, of Harrison pleaded guilty in May to three counts of first-degree murder and 19 counts of attempted murder.
She admitted to giving often-lethal doses of insulin and killing patients at five nursing homes in Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler and Westmoreland counties between December 2020 and May 1, 2023.
The plea agreement spared Pressdee from a possible death sentence.
Tarentum Halloween dog attack
Trick-or-treating quickly turned into a nightmare in part of Tarentum when a pair of pitbulls, along with their puppy, escaped from their home at a tri-plex on Ormond Street and attacked three people.
Michael Shutack, Faith Valasek and Shawn Flynn Jr. were injured in the attack that happened in the area of the borough’s East Sixth and Seventh avenues. Police killed one of the adult dogs.
Police charged Brandon Jerome Baynes for allegedly allowing his dogs to run loose. He was arraigned Dec. 18 before District Judge Carolyn S. Bengel and released from the Allegheny County Jail the next day after posting $100 bail. His preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 15, according to court records.
Bodies of missing man, woman found in cars in Allegheny River
The bodies of a man missing since 2013 and a woman missing since 2020 were recovered from vehicles found in the Allegheny River this summer.
Bunnie Lee, 78, of East Liberty was identified after a car was pulled out of the river in Springdale on June 30. Described as suffering from dementia, he had last been seen in Homewood in November 2013.
Less than a month later, on July 21, Janet Walsh, 70, of Shaler was found inside a submerged vehicle in the river in Oakmont.
Both finds were accidental, which is the case for most underwater discoveries, according to authorities. Divers and emergency responders say that local rivers are full of unusual and sometimes unfortunate discoveries.
Tarentum declines police dog gift from country star
Country music star Brian Kelley performed in West Deer in August at a concert organized by 12-year-old Kaley Bastine, of Harrison, who wanted to raise money to help Tarentum get a police dog.
Bastine’s charity, Kaley’s Kops, helps raise money for emergency responders in the Alle-Kiski Valley.
Two songs into the Aug. 9 show at No Offseason Sports, Kelley, formerly of Florida Georgia Line, brought Bastine on stage and announced he had bought the dog himself.
But the borough ended up declining the 18-month-old German shepherd, deciding that a younger dog would be a better fit.
The borough also received no proceeds from the concert, which, Chase Bass of Alabama-based 423 Productions said, suffered a five-figure loss because of weak ticket sales.
It was announced in October that Tarentum received an $83,000 state grant to pay for equipping a vehicle for a dog, which police Chief Bill Vakulick hopes to have on duty in 2025.
Other top stories
Other top stories for the year included:
• Arnold police Chief Josh Stanga suspended, charged after failing “integrity test”
• Roxanne Bonnoni, 11, struck and killed by vehicle near her Natrona home
• Trib investigation reveals how realty group benefits from dying malls, including Pittsburgh Mills
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a TribLive reporter covering news in New Kensington, Arnold and Plum. A Pittsburgh native and graduate of Penn State University's Schreyer Honors College, Brian has been with the Trib since December 2000. He can be reached at brittmeyer@triblive.com.
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