Pittsburgh Mass Shooting: Police sources paint picture of what led up to deadly shooting
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Investigators are putting pieces of the puzzle together after Sunday morning's mass shooting in Pittsburgh.
In the aftermath of the shooting, police investigators are left to pick up the pieces and reconstruct the event in an effort to find the shooters. Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert told Your Day Pittsburgh on Tuesday that investigators are working around the clock.
"Our detectives are working non-stop, talking to people, reviewing video, doing everything they can do to piece everything that happened together and ultimately bring those responsible to justice," he said.
With the help of police sources, KDKA has put together a picture of our own.
The two top floors of the building are owned by Greg Barr, a commercial property owner who wouldn't comment but posted the space for rent with Airbnb. Sources say a group of friends organized the event, but Barr actually rented the space to the mother of one of them and the payment was charged to her credit card.
The woman's son and others then posted a flyer on social media. For $5 a head, inviting all comers, advising them to bring their own weed and alcohol. An estimated 200 young people - mostly juveniles - came from around the region on Saturday. Around 11 p.m., police responded to a complaint of noise.
"It was just a single call for loud music," the chief said. "Officers were dispatched."
Schubert said the officers spoke with a person who claimed to be running the event and said he would turn down the music. The officers left without going upstairs.
"There's a side door, and you actually have to go up the steps to the other floors," Schubert said. "But there was nothing that indicated that there were issues at that time."
But as the evening wore on, things apparently spun out of control. Sources say an organizer told people to leave. When they wouldn't, those same sources say he apparently began shooting at the ceiling trying to get them to disperse. They say this touched off shooting by multiple people - dozens of rounds fired inside the building, dozens more outside the building. In all, sources say about 140 rounds were fired.
When police arrived they found two dead teenagers, nine others who were wounded, and the rental strewn with shell casings, cellphones, shoes and empty liquor bottles.
"People are coming forward, people are sharing video and things like that. But we still need more to come forward," Schubert said.
Investigators are tight-lipped about possible suspects at this point, but they are chasing down several leads and asking for more help from the public.