Downtown Pittsburgh businesses impacted by escalating violence on Liberty Avenue

PITTSBURGH — It’s a cleanup process Monday morning as Love Pittsburgh business owners walk into their store to find shattered glass.

The very top of the store window shows a crack with a hole from a bullet.

“People are less likely to bring their kids around here, like, if you bring your kids here and there are shootings,” said Sabrina Amann-Ross, who works on Liberty Avenue.

Pittsburgh police are investigating after shots were fired along Liberty Avenue near Tito Way Sunday night.

Next to Love Pittsburgh, the Cultural Trust building’s window is boarded up. If you look inside, you can see the bullet still wedged into the wall near the ceiling. It’s these types of incidents that residents told Channel 11 are driving people out of the city.

“People leaving downtown — it’s already happened. The only commerce happens in business offices. If you own a store downtown and it’s not about food, you aren’t making a business,” said Willard Jordan, who lives on Liberty Avenue.

Overnight, another situation on Liberty Avenue sent one person to the hospital. Channel 11 is still working to get more details from police, but people who work and live downtown want to know when there will be a change.

“I find it disheartening that most of us take all of this very lightly until it hits home and affects someone we care about,” Jordan said.

Channel 11 has reached out to police for more details on both incidents but have not heard back.

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