Mount Oliver community reels after man is shot, killed inside his home
MOUNT OLIVER (KDKA) -- The family of 49-year-old Dana Burks is grieving his loss after he was shot and killed on Saturday in Mount Oliver.
Burks' body was in the doorway of his home along Amanda Street, Allegheny County police said. They were called there at 12:30 p.m.
The shooting has the community reeling.
His now-widow told KDKA that Burks was a loving, caring, family man, explaining this is all like a "bad dream."
Burks' cousin, Jarado Granberry, spoke with KDKA as he walked with his daughter to grieve with his family at Burks' mother's home. He remains in shock.
"I can't explain it. It's like mystical, it's like a unicorn. I can't believe it happened," Granberry said. "I can't understand why, I can't understand what would provoke it."
Burks had a daughter who was under 2 years old. He had other children, including one who was the same age as Granberry's daughter.
"Anytime I needed help, he would come and pick her up, and he was always there," Granberry said.
While saying that Burks did not have enemies, Granberry did acknowledge that everyone has a past.
"But don't get it messed up. Everyone loved him. He was a good brother, he was a good son, he was a good father, Dana was a good person," Granberry said. "At the end of the day, whatever anyone thinks about him, how he perceived himself, he was a good person. I miss my cousin, man."
Both Granberry and other neighbors told KDKA-TV that in their neighborhood, guns never seem to be silent.
"I mean, we hear it every day. It's every day, and we're not even surprised anymore. It's like, 'Oh, I wonder who did it this time.' It's sad, really sad," said Dixie Allen, who lives in Mount Oliver.
It was just nine days before this shooting that another man was killed in broad daylight outside a convenience store just down the street from Burks' home.
"It is horrible, it's really sad because this is our neighborhood," Allen said.
She, like Granberry, worries things will get worse.
"I'm going to be honest with you. It's going to turn into a purgatory because nothing is changing out here," Granberry said.
He believes Mount Oliver police should do more surveillance, and that a more consistent presence should help. He openly wonders if it would be better if Pittsburgh police took over patrols in the area.
On Sunday morning, county police said they obtained an arrest warrant for 21-year-old Rasheed Horne, and Horne ultimately turned himself in.
He is now in the Allegheny County Jail awaiting his arraignment.