North Side funeral shooting victims say they're too afraid to talk on camera
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Six victims are recovering after gunfire erupted outside Destiny of Faith Church during a funeral Friday afternoon.
Five peole were shot and a sixth was injured trying to escape. KDKA-TV's Jennifer Borrasso talked to three of the six victims and one family member of another victim. The story is the same with all of them: they're too afraid to talk on camera.
In a video obtained by KDKA-TV's Jennifer Borrasso, you can see the terrifying moments after gunfire erupted outside Destiny of Faith Church during the funeral for John Hornezes, who was recently killed in a gun battle on the North Side.
Two suspects dressed in black wearing masks started shooting outside the church on Benton Avenue towards people at the front doors and in the vestibule of the church.
One of the suspects ran towards the church entrance and continued shooting towards the victims. Then people start running. A bullet fragment hit one of the horses that brought the casket.
A woman who was shot struggled to make her way into the church. A bullet hit her in the leg, foot and hand. A man who knows her said the family is too afraid to talk fearing retaliation, saying she didn't see anything or hear anything.
Another victim, a 24-year-old man shot in the foot, said he ran and kept running until he was safe. Right now, he's at home recovering. He said it's hard living in the streets and surviving.
A 20-year-old also afraid said there's a lot of fear.
"Nobody likes to live in fear," said Pittsburgh Fish and Chicken employee Jason Westmoreland, but "that's the community that we are in. Sometimes it's just life. It's just life."
Jason Westmoreland works on Benton Avenue across from the church and heard dozens of shots.
"Outrageous," he said. "It was sad. I feel bad for the family, but it's just heartbreaking."
Hours after the shooting, police arrested and charged Shawn Davis and Hezekiah Nixon.
Through cameras, detectives identified the suspects' vehicle and found them on the McKees Rocks Bridge.
They are both known to law enforcement and have prior criminal records. Police believe they targeted the funeral over an ongoing turf battle connected to the earlier shooting on Cedar Avenue that killed Hornezes.
"You live what you live," said Westmoreland. "You learn what you learn and sometimes there ain't no going back."
Westmoreland says something needs to change.
"We as people, as individuals, have to make better choices and if we don't choose to do that, ain't nothing going to happen," he said, adding, "Think before you react. Use your head. You have a brain."