South Carolina murder suspect arrested in Pittsburgh after police chase on I-79

PITTSBURGH — A man suspected in a homicide on March 21 in Greenville, South Carolina was arrested on Thursday in Pittsburgh following a police chase on Interstate 79 in Washington County.

Police sources told Channel 11’s Cara Sapida that the man was driving a van that belongs to someone who was carjacked at gunpoint.

The man arrested, 39-year-old Tony Merritt, is accused of shooting and killing Twana McDaniel, sources told Sapida.

A Channel 11 photojournalist captured video of two people being arrested on Route 51 in Pittsburgh.

A Canonsburg police cruiser was damaged in the chase.

Canonsburg police Chief Al Coghill said he felt frustrated that his officers don’t have enough protective gear.

“Each officer has one or two masks and one or two pairs of gloves, as we were forming swat teams we had 30-40 officers, suspects all in close proximity of each other all have to use or hands and close contact, potential for exposure is great and with small departments like ours if public safety is compromised really have a nightmare patrolling these small towns,” Coghill said.

The suspect is still at the Canonsburg police station being questioned. They will be taking him to the Washington County Jail where he will await extradition to South Carolina.

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