Police: Man Planned Shooting Spree For St. Patrick's Day Parade
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A local man is under arrest, accused of a terror plot targeting one of Pittsburgh's biggest celebrations -- the St. Patrick's Day parade.
According to police, the man made detailed plans to shoot at the large crowds gathered in downtown Pittsburgh.
But instead, 27-year-old Sean Notman spent St. Patrick's Day in jail after an incident with his roommate.
"Mr. Notman was in an argument with his roommate and his roommate's girlfriend," Allegheny County Police Lt. Jeffrey Korczyk said. "He fired several rounds from an AK-47 at the two."
Notman shared a second-floor apartment with his roommate on Carl Street in Mt. Oliver before he was arrested.
The landlord, Jeffrey, Fisher, was repairing bullet holes to the roof from the February 26 shooting. He described Notman as a "stellar tenant."
"I don't think for one minute that Sean would ever mean to hurt anybody," Fisher said.
Allegheny County Police don't see it that way. In fact, when police searched Notman's apartment the day of the shooting, they found the AK-47 rifle, two loaded 30-round clips, a .357 revolver, a gorilla suit and a laptop computer with incriminating evidence pointing to Notman.
"He made statements that he was going to take his AK-47, his .357 magnum, go down to Market Square on St. Patrick's Day with the intention of killing at least 15 women," Korczyk said. "He also noted that it would be much easier and probably have a higher body count because the people would be drunk and wouldn't be very coordinated."
Police say the weapons he owned were purchased legally.
Police say if it hadn't been for the shooting incident, they would have never been aware of Notman's plan.
Meantime, Notman played in a heavy metal band. His landlord sees what was written on his laptop differently.
"[They] do a lot of lyrics that some people wouldn't appreciate," Fisher said.
Police say Notman also wrote on his laptop that after the shootings in Market Square, he knew the police would come and they would die with honor and then he would take his own life with his .357 magnum.
Meantime, his attorney has scheduled a mental evaluation for him.
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