Parents demanding answers following shooting in Homewood near youth football game
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Parents want solutions after a shooting took place near a youth football game in Pittsburgh's Homewood neighborhood.
Those parents say the police officers who were supposed to keep them safe didn't do that.
This comes after the organizers of the game say they specifically asked Pittsburgh Police to watch over the crowd.
However, they say they didn't see officers at Chadwick Park when it would've mattered most -- as bullets flew on Sunday afternoon.
Organizers said they requested and received confirmation that Pittsburgh police would be around for the game. They said those officers never showed up. https://t.co/EUQB1Z1VlH
— KDKA (@KDKA) August 15, 2022
Parents brought that issue to Mayor Ed Gainey's attention at a community meeting on Monday night.
Aaron Strader, the vice president of Lincoln Youth Sports says they hire their own security just to ensure the safety of the kids.
But he says he wanted more eyes for Sunday's game, which he expected to have a bigger crowd.
So Strader reached out to the city's Zone 5 station. He says officers promised to be there, and an email from the commander says they would be present -- but they weren't.
Now that's leading to calls for more communication both from city leaders and the community.
"Police come here. Come play with the kids. Come interact with the adults. Come interact with the community. Come have a hot dog, you know, things of that nature," Strader said. "I think that alone, cause you think about all the kids youth football touches alone. We have a lot of youth. And that youth is going to be the next generation."
They may not be in here... but somebody knows who pulled that trigger. somebody knows who put out babies at risk. and we could choose to not say something. or we can choose to protect our children.
"They may not be in here, but somebody knows who pulled that trigger," Strader said. "Somebody knows who put our babies at risk. And we could choose to not say something. Or we can choose to protect our children."
KDKA spoke with a parent who says the Zone 5 commander told her that officers were indeed there, but weren't able to get into the park because it was so crowded.
Pittsburgh Police leaders were also present at the meeting and admitted they fell short of their commitment to community safety on Sunday. They also spoke about wanting to make improvements so it doesn't happen again.
No one was injured as a result of the shooting on Sunday. Police did find a bullet hit a windshield of a nearby truck.