DUQUESNE, Pa. — A robbery attempt in Duquesne turned into a shootout Wednesday when the 73-year-old victim opened fire on his alleged attacker and killed him.
The victim was a jitney driver who picked up a passenger who tried to rob him, which is when he shot and killed him.
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A red SUV was park of the crime scene in an alleyway near South 6th Street.
"Our officers arrived on the scene and found a 33-year-old male deceased and we had another person that was in his 70s and reported to be the victim of that robbery," said Thomas Dunlevy, chief of the Duquesne Police Department. "Gunshots were exchanged in the incident."
According to police, the jitney driver picked up two men and one of the passengers, Vernon Lee Owens III, pulled out a gun and demanded money from the driver, while hitting him in the face with a gun. Owens was shot and killed.
That's when the extra passenger, the driver and robber all got out, with the driver pulling a gun and shooting the man.
"This is the first crime of violence that we’ve had this year. We haven’t had a shooting in Duquesne this year," Dunlevy said.
The jitney driver legally owned the gun.
Right now, he is not being charged.
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