March 04, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
One of the victims of a shooting Wednesday afternoon in which two people died has now been charged in connection with the case.
Davon Flewellen-Belton, 18, of McKeesport is charged by Allegheny County police with carrying a firearm without a license and unauthorized possession of a firearm.
Flewellen-Belton was one of three people shot in an apartment at Crawford Village on Wednesday afternoon, Allegheny County police said. He is being held in the Allegheny County Jail in lieu of $5,000 cash bond pending a preliminary hearing March 13.
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March 02, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A fist-fight between several people in Crawford Village on Wednesday afternoon led to a shooting that left two people dead and a third hospitalized, Allegheny County homicide investigators said.
Jerred M. Duncan, 22, of Turtle Creek was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident from a gunshot wound to the chest, the Allegheny County medical examiner’s office said.
Jordan Eubanks, 30, of the city was taken to UPMC Mercy Hospital, Uptown, with gunshot wounds and died about 90 minutes later, the medical examiner said. An 18-year-old man was taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds to the leg, police said. His name has not been officially released.
The shootings happened at around 1 p.m. in Crawford Building 50, county police said in a prepared statement.
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March 02, 2023 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport City Council opened its meeting Wednesday night with a moment of silence for slain police Officer Sean Sluganski and four people who were shot — three fatally — earlier in the day.
Two shootings less than an hour apart on Wednesday left residents and local officials again wondering what can be done to stem gun violence in the city.
Wednesday afternoon’s events were “horrific,” Mayor Michael Cherepko said.
“It has been an extremely difficult month for the City of McKeesport,” he said. “An absolute nightmare.”
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March 01, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
(Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and will be updated as necessary)
Schools went on lockdown and police from across Allegheny County streamed into the city Wednesday afternoon after two separate shootings in different neighborhoods left three people dead and another hospitalized.
Just after 12 noon, a 47-year-old man was shot to death near a store in the 3100 block of Versailles Avenue, emergency personnel said. Less than an hour later, as police were investigating the first incident, three people were shot in the Crawford Village housing development, according to police.
One man, 22, died in the second incident, while a second victim of that shooting, age 30, died later at a hospital.
Police do not believe the shootings were related and said there is “no threat to the general public.”
The latest deaths make five homicides in the city since Jan. 1.
McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko called the incidents “senseless” and said the solution to the violence goes beyond adding more law enforcement to the streets.
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February 27, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
The third in a series of meetings to discuss the community response to violence has been postponed to give families a chance to cheer on McKeesport Area basketball teams that are competing in the playoffs.
The meetings are being sponsored by the McKeesport unit of the NAACP.
A spokeswoman said that due to both the boys’ and girls’ high school teams competing tonight, the meeting will be rescheduled.
The next meeting will discuss strategies and planners hope to get committees in place. She urged parents and other interested residents to attend. The new date will be announced soon, she said.
The girls’ team is playing in the Class 5A semi-finals against Gateway at 8 p.m. The winner will play for the Class 5A championship on March 4.
The boys’ team is playing in a Class 5A consolation round against Fox Chapel at 8 p.m. The winner will advance to the PIAA playoffs as the WPIAL’s seventh seed.
February 27, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A city man is being held in the Allegheny County Jail in connection with a string of convenience store robberies in McKeesport and Munhall.
James E. Harrison III, 26, faces preliminary hearings on March 6 before Magisterial District Judge Eugene Riazzi in McKeesport and on March 8 before Magisterial District Judge Patrick Campbell in Munhall on 18 different charges, including multiple counts of robbery, simple assault, recklessly endangering other persons and theft.
Allegheny County detectives and McKeesport and Munhall police said that Harrison has been connected to five robberies, including a Jan. 17 hold-up at a market in the 900 block of Union Avenue, two hold-ups at a variety store on Lysle Boulevard in February, and two robberies at a deli on Main Street in Munhall.
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February 27, 2023 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
SPECIAL REPORT — © 2023 Tube City Community Media Inc.
(WCN247.com photo via Flickr, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
After a violent three-month period that has seen three young people shot — one fatally — as well as the murder of a police officer, McKeesport residents are searching for answers.
“This was not how we grew up at all,” McKeesport Area School Superintendent Tia Wanzo said in an interview. “We went through 13 years of school and we may have had one student in our class that passed away — whether it was a car accident or something unexpected — but this is way too much. It’s too common.”
The events, she and other community members said, evidence new realities.
Wanzo recalled her actions following the Dec. 13 death of 16-year-old Chance Naylor. In the aftermath of the student’s murder, she began preparing a statement.
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February 27, 2023 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
The McKeesport chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness will meet at 6 p.m. March 1 at Penn State Greater Allegheny, Frable Building, Room 122, a spokeswoman said. The meeting is open to families and friends of loved ones living with mental illness.
Through a “care and share” session, members offer understanding and support unique to those who are affected by these conditions. NAMI McKeesport occasionally invites mental health professionals to speak about treatment and resources.
For more information about the McKeesport meeting, call (412) 527-6600. For the NAMI Helpline call (412) 366-3788 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
February 25, 2023 |
By Danielle M. Smith - Public News Service | Posted in: State & Region
It’s been two weeks since a Commonwealth Court judge ruled Pennsylvania’s system of funding public schools is unconstitutional and must be revamped.
Backers of the ruling are looking toward Gov. Josh Shapiro’s new budget, expected March 7, to address the steps his administration will be taking to move toward compliance with the court decision.
Kristina Moon, senior staff attorney for the Education Law Center, called the victory “historic” for the petitioners: six school districts, parents, the NAACP of Pennsylvania, and the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools.
Moon said the judge wrote a “strong” decision, which is 786 pages long.
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February 22, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News
A Duquesne police officer received a gunshot wound early Wednesday morning following an altercation in the 600 block of Catherine Street, emergency personnel said.
Allegheny County homicide detectives are investigating.
The incident happened less than three weeks after two McKeesport police officers were shot, one fatally, while attempting to obtain mental-health treatment for a Wilson Street man.
The unidentified Duquesne officer, who was taken to a hospital in stable condition, was wounded in the foot but returned fire, Allegheny County police Lt. Venerando Costa said in a prepared statement.
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