Mayor Gainey speaks out after violent night: 'Solving root cause, so we can attempt to stop more violence'
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Mayor Ed Gainey is speaking out following another night of violence in the city of Pittsburgh.
Three shootings over a period of 12 hours left one person dead and five others injured.
"I invite our entire city to join me in praying for the victims and their families," Gainey said.
Four people were shot on Brighton Place on the North Side late Sunday night. Police described the scene as one of chaos.
"There was a wrecked vehicle, multiple shell casings on the street, people scrambling," Pittsburgh Police Cmdr. Richard Ford said.
Around the same time, another man was shot on Jackson Street in Highland Park. Then, just before 3 a.m., a teenager was shot and killed in the head on Fifth Avenue, Uptown.
Following the shootings, Gainey said in a statement that he is deploying the city's rapid response teams to the victims' families as part of his public health-based approach to curbing gun violence.
"We will convene our rapid response teams to make sure we are caring for the victims' families and ensuring they have access to the support and resources they need, working to contain future harm, and beginning the long-term work of solving the root cause so we can attempt to stop more violence," Gainey said.
Today we wake to the news of another night filled with gun violence across Pittsburgh and I invite our entire city to join me in praying for the victims and their families. My administration is committed to our public health based approach to ending gun violence... 1/4 pic.twitter.com/gSlEEaet2Q
— Ed Gainey (@gainey_ed) August 8, 2022
The violence was not contained in the city. In Duquesne, four teenagers were shot when one or more shooters fired into a large crowd of young people who had gathered in a parking lot. There were also other non-fatal shootings in Stowe and McKeesport involving young victims.
In Pittsburgh, the mayor said this spike won't derail efforts to arrest violent criminals and offer help to at-risk juveniles, but he said the city needs more help in stopping the trafficking of guns.
"We have too many guns on the street," Gainey said.
The mayor said the police are getting more help from the public but could use more.
"If anybody knows what happened on these current shootings, just call us. You already know, we've proved it. If you call us and give us the information, we will solve the crime. We need you," he said.
If you know anything about any of the shootings, Gainey is asking you to call Pittsburgh police at 412-323-7800.
"Before this weekend, shootings were down, killings were down. This weekend, it is what it is, but we're going to work every day to make this the safest city in America. That's not going to stop," Gainey said.