Man shot twice on Brookline Boulevard, Good Samaritan jumps into action to help
A man was shot multiple times in broad daylight in front of a stretch of businesses in Pittsburgh's Brookline neighborhood.
Pittsburgh police said a man was shot twice in the abdomen on Brookline Boulevard around Flatbush Avenue around 4 p.m. When police got there, an off-duty medic and firefighter were giving aid to the victim. He was taken to the hospital in serious but stable condition.
A Good Samaritan also jumped in to help, saying he went into Antonio's to ask for gloves to try to administer some type of aid.
"I was just sitting in my store and I heard three loud pops. I thought it was a bunch of kids, you know, banging on my window. Came out and seen that there was a gunshot victim and my fight or flight reaction kicked in," Cesar Rivera said. "My first thing was to go to Antonio's here and ask them for gloves and try to administer some type of first aid and when I came out, there was an off-duty officer and an off-duty EMT already on scene."
Rivera applied pressure while the two first responders helped. From there, the victim was awakened and scared.
"I just held onto him as the officer was removing his shirt, the victim did grab me," Rivera recalled. "Onto my right shoulder and I just let him hold on. He was thinking he was losing his life."
The victim was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and police said the two juveniles suspected to have shot the man took off up Flatbush Avenue.
Police shut down a stretch of Brookline Boulevard to investigate. Officers were canvassing the area, talking to witnesses, and looking for cameras and evidence. Police taped off a large area and placed several evidence markers on the ground on both Brookline Boulevard and Flatbush Avenue.
A bullet also appeared to hit a gray Toyota Corolla that was parked in front of businesses near the scene.
The man who was shot is known around the area. He just got out of jail and may be homeless.
Tom Swartz owns Steel City Craft Emporium and he is starting a neighborhood watch group called "Boulevard Bouncers."
"We are going to have QR in the windows so that people won't get involved they can just scan the QR code report it to me upload any pictures everything gets sent over to the commander," he said.
Meanwhile, Brookline resident Linda Piper is concerned over incidents such as this one.
"No matter where you go in the city, it's getting worse," she claimed. "It's said, it's really said because this is a nice business district."
