Police shoot, kill armed man in Brentwood after chase
BRENTWOOD, Pa. (KDKA) -- An officer shot and killed a man in Brentwood after a chase in the South Hills on Wednesday evening, according to Allegheny County police.
County police said it started around 5 p.m. when a county officer saw a stolen vehicle on Brownsville Road in South Park. The officer tried to pull over the black Nissan Rogue, which initially stopped before speeding away, police said. Officers said they stopped following the vehicle and terminated the attempted traffic stop.
"It is kind of unsettling. This is a very quiet neighborhood. There isn't really much that happens in Brentwood," Ken Kornick said.
About six minutes later, County police said Brentwood officers found the vehicle on Route 51 and started a chase. During the pursuit, police said the suspect rammed a Brentwood police vehicle along Laveton Road.
Shortly after, police said the suspect ran from the vehicle along Check Way. Officers ran after the suspect, and during a fight with a Brentwood officer, police said they saw the suspect had a gun.
"The officer had a physical fight with the suspect. During this fight, he found the suspect was armed with a handgun," Allegheny County Police Superintendent Chris Kearns said. The physical fight continued, and during this confrontation, the officer fired multiple rounds, striking the suspect," Superintendent Kearns added.
"All of a sudden, we heard bang bang," resident Jana Faust said. "We saw the suspect had been shot. [He was] laying there, and the cops were trying to give him CPR. I couldn't handle it and walked away."
The suspect, later identified as 37-year-old Craig McGrath, was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was found to have a gun on him, police said.
"Unfortunately, that is what society has come to," resident Bill Sorochman said. "What now? What is going on now in our small community? Brentwood is a small, tight-knit community."
Allegheny County police say the incident only lasted 10 minutes from chase to shooting. Superintendent Kearns says he believes the officer was wearing a body camera.
Brentwood police called in the county police homicide unit and detectives from there are handling the investigation.