PITTSBURGH — A shooting early Sunday morning near 18th and East Carson Street on the South Side disrupted what Pittsburgh police called a pretty normal celebration.
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Police did acknowledge that multiple fights throughout the evening led to the decision to move in and clear the streets after the bars had closed at 2 a.m.
While police on foot and horseback were moving people out of the area, shots rang out and led to a chaotic scene with police and people running in different directions.
Officers eventually surrounded a car and discovered the driver had been shot, but managed to drive two more blocks.
He was conscious and alert and got out of the car on his own.
He was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
Pittsburgh Police Commander Jeff Abraham, who was on patrol at the time, said other officers saw the shooting and quickly took the suspect into custody.
“Officers who were up on 18th street observed the shooting happen right in front of them, ran up and quickly apprehended the suspect. A male came out onto the street and shot at the vehicle,” Abraham said.
Police said 20-year-old Joseph Vance brown of Clairton ran up to the car and allegedly fired up to seven shots.
Brown is now charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment.
The shooting happened after the bars had closed and police were clearing the area.
“We started getting multiple fights on the street. We decided to form a line, along with our mounted patrol units, to start clearing the streets,” Abraham said.
“Below 18th Street, it was like a war zone, people fighting everywhere, chaos. You had the police lined up, marching. It’s ridiculous,” said Rich Cupka, who has owned Cupka’s Café II on the South Side for more than 30 years.
Over the years, Cupka has been highly critical of the city’s approach to dealing with the violence on East Carson Street, even calling out the city for holding a news conference just last week about preparations to keep people safe.
“They’ve been having meetings and press conferences like that for six and seven years now and we have the same stuff over and over and over,” Cupka said.
Cupka believes the problem runs much deeper and he partly blames progressive politicians and the judicial system.
“They know no matter what happens they’re going to get let out so they can do whatever the hell they want to do,” Cupka said.
Cupka believes the police need to be more proactive and he said they need support from city leaders to enforce the laws and do the job they were hired to do.
Commander Abraham said they have been proactive, especially since launching the South Side Entertainment Patrols nearly two years ago.
Last year the dedicated patrols confiscated 60 illegal guns, and Abraham said it’s been six months since the last shooting here.
“It is something that we are doing, our very, very best to try to make it a safe place for everybody to go to,” Abraham said.
Police said the victim’s wound was not life-threatening.
Investigators are still trying to figure out what led up to the shooting.
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