2 teenagers charged with attempted homicide in shooting that injured 6 outside Pittsburgh funeral
By Hannah Sarisohn, CNN
Two teenagers were charged with attempted homicide Saturday in Pittsburgh, a day after allegedly opening fire in front of a church where a funeral was taking place, injuring six people, according to a release from Pittsburgh Public Safety.
The shooting erupted Friday outside Pittsburgh’s Destiny of Faith Church, CNN previously reported. Five people were shot and one person was injured while trying to escape from the scene, police said.
Pittsburgh police arrested 19-year-old Shawn Davis and 16-year-old Hezekiah Nixon, according to the release. Davis and Nixon are being held at the Alleghany County Jail, police said.
Both individuals were also charged with criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault and firearms charges, police say.
It’s unclear at this time whether Davis and Nixon have attorneys.
Police did not say whether the shooting or Davis and Nixon had any connection with the funeral or the church.
Police were alerted to two ShotSpotter activations shortly after noon Friday. The first alert indicated five rounds shot, and the second alert indicated 15 rounds shot, Ford said. Once at the scene, responding officers determined the gunfire was heard outside the church. It’s believed at least some of the people shot were attending the funeral, Ford said.
Pittsburgh Police Commander Richard Ford said the incident appeared to be “obviously a result of a targeted shooting.”
“We do feel that there are people out there that will resort to violence through guns, and that is a danger to anybody when that might take place,” Ford said.
Destiny of Faith Church’s senior pastor, the Rev. Brenda Gregg, said in her in 30 years of working in pastoral ministry, Friday’s shooting “has been one of the most devastating days of [her] life.”
Gregg added it was a difficult time “doing a funeral for a young man and being able to work with his family to bring closure to what had happened in their lives, that we had people come to church and fire guns after people.”
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey acknowledged the community and the families of the victims are hurting and Friday’s shooting is something they all never expected to happen.
“Just never could have imagined it. Never, that we would shoot up holy ground,” said Gainey. “We will be working around the clock to do whatever is necessary to apprehend those that did this heinous thing today.”
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CNN’s Emma Tucker, Kristina Sgueglia, Zenebou Sylla, Justin Lear and Laura Ly contributed to this report.
