Coach of teen shot to death near abandoned Penn Hills house says there needs to be more resources

PENN HILLS, Pa. — A teenager was found shot to death Monday night near an abandoned house in Penn Hills, police said.

Officers found the body of 17-year-old Jason Jackson Jr. along Gibson Street, after someone called 911 shortly after 7 p.m. to report hearing gunshots in the area. Police said he had been shot multiple times. Security cameras captured the deadly shooting as two cars sped away from the scene.

Investigators were seen going from house to house, and officials said a security camera recorded the sound of 10 to 15 gunshots.

No arrests have been made.

The Penn Hills Superintendent told Channel 11 that the district has lost three students in the past month to violence. Another student was lost due to a drug overdose.

“Every time you turn on the news, we are losing our youth, our babies, our kids. We are losing our future and nobody is stepping in to help us,” said youth football coach Darrick Currington. “We went through this a couple of weeks ago when we lost kids that play for the North Side. Now we are losing kids that played for Wilkinsburg, and this is an ongoing cycle.”

Currington and another youth coach, Matthew Johnson, both said there is a lack of resources to keep kids out of trouble.

“There’s different programs that we should have for the kids to do outside of football. Too much time on our hands. We see what’s happening and nobody cares about the kids until it’s one of their own,” Johnson said.

Johnson knew Jason Jackson and had coached him.

“Heartbroken. He was a good kid,” Johnson said. “Came to practice all the time, worked very hard.”

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call the Allegheny County Police Tip Line at 1-833-ALL-TIPS.

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