Good Samaritan shot by man he was trying to help in Pittsburgh's Brighton Heights neighborhood
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A good Samaritan is in critical condition after he was shot by the man he was trying to help in Pittsburgh's Brighton Heights neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon, police said.
Pittsburgh police said ShotSpotter picked up 13 shots fired on Goe Avenue at Brighton Road around 4 p.m. When officers got there, they found a man in his early 70s who had been shot multiple times.
"We think in this particular situation the actor may have been on something and this person was just a good Samaritan who came upon this individual to render aid and the person just started firing on the individual," said Pittsburgh Police Assistant Chief Richard Ford. "So we are hoping this victim is able to recover but he is in critical condition at this time."
The victim was taken to the hospital in critical condition. The suspect was only described as 47 years old.
Police don't believe these two men knew each other. Officers believe the victim was just trying to help someone who looked like he needed it.
"This person was just a good Samaritan that had come upon this individual to try to render aid, and the person just started firing on the individual," Assistant Chief Ford said.
Neighbor Joe Pail was stunned when he looked out his window just before 4 p.m. Wednesday.
"I [saw] him laying on the ground. There were two people laying on the ground, hunched over."
"He was just acting irrational[ly]. He was in the bushes when I guess, the witnesses we had on the scene and the officers arrived, so just not acting normal. And apparently, the individual who the victim was fired upon just came upon this individual and was trying to assist the individual when he fired his weapon multiple times," according to Assistant Chief Ford.
A Rite Aid employee told KDKA-TV that she was outside the store and saw a man trying to help another man, and then she heard gunshots.
Several officers came face to face with the suspect.
"They (officers) encountered a male who did have a firearm on him. He had fired the firearm," Assistant Chief Ford said. "They had to wrestle the firearm off the actor."
Police tased the suspect before he was taken into custody.
A source tells KDKA-TV that police recovered pill bottles at the scene. Neighbors claim the suspected shooter is homeless.
"[The suspect] has been walking the streets for months and months," Pail said.
People remain thankful that no officers or anybody else got hurt.
"That's a shame. He's trying to help somebody. There is a lot of good-hearted people around here, and he sees someone homeless; they want to feed him, they just want to help him," resident Joe Harper said.
The suspect has not yet been identified.