Gun matching description of weapon tossed from McKees Rocks Bridge found by River Rescue
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Two days after gunfire sent mourners ducking for cover at a funeral in Pittsburgh's Brighton Heights neighborhood, police said they recovered a firearm that one of the two teenage suspects threw off the McKees Rocks Bridge.
Detectives and a river rescue team found the firearm in the Ohio River on Sunday morning.
"Growing up, I could have never gotten a gun...now, it's like getting a bag of potato chips," said Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey.
Mayor Gainey said too many guns are getting into young people's hands.
"We've gotta do everything we've gotta do to address this gun situation. It's escalating throughout America, and right here in our city and we know that that's something we have to continue to work on," he said.
Court documents detail how surveillance footage showed two masked males carrying guns with extended magazines walking toward Destiny of Faith Church in Brighton Heights at 12:03 p.m. on Friday, then one firing shots towards the front of the church and the other shooting at a man on the sidewalk.
Six people and a horse were injured. One of the people hurt was not shot, but was injured while running away.
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Just before 6 p.m. Friday, Pittsburgh police stopped the suspects, 16-year-old Hezekiah Nixon and 19-year-old Shawn Davis, in a vehicle on the McKees Rocks Bridge.
The criminal complaint said Nixon ran from the car and threw a firearm into the river and Davis dropped a gun on the roadway, before both teens were taken into custody.
"I'm proud of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, I'm proud of the way they executed quickly," Gainey said.
Investigators discovered the gun that was recovered had one bullet in the chamber and was reported stolen from Shaler Township.
"Ghese young people getting these guns is a problem," Gainey said.
Mayor Gainey said the biggest questions right now is, how are teenagers getting guns?
"Where are you getting these guns from at 16, 17, 18, 19 years old? That's the loop we've gotta close...where they're getting these guns from? And that's where we need everybody," he said.
Nixon and Davis are charged with attempted homicide and aggravated assault.
During Sunday's service at Destiny of Faith Church, the pastor said a trauma response team will be at the church on Tuesday at 6 p.m. for people to talk about Friday's shooting.
