PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto addressed Saturday afternoon’s violent downtown stabbing, calling the incident “horrific and unacceptable.”
Channel 11 has learned the victim is a student in the Fox Chapel Area School District.
[ ORIGINAL STORY: Police: Man tackled 12-year-old, stabbed him in the neck at downtown McDonald’s ]
According to police, a 12-year-old boy was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, after the random attack occurred inside of the McDonald’s on Liberty Avenue.
Charles Turner, 51, was arrested and now faces several charges, including attempted homicide.
Pittsburgh police have confirmed they are consulting with federal authorities to see if hate crime charges are warranted.
Mayor Peduto said on Monday that the boy is expected to recover, and acknowledged that several McDonald’s employees jumped into action, perhaps saving him.
“If it weren’t for the heroic effort of the employees at McDonald’s... we could have had a much different situation.”
Peduto also acknowledged the responding officers, paramedics, and hospital staff.
Several police were also attacked by Turner, according to the criminal complaint. The suspect also reportedly bit another individual. He was shouting names like “white devils” and “rapists” at police. A motive remains unclear.
“The suspect has a lengthy record, he has had a history of violence. He was not somebody who we had as our homeless community downtown,” Peduto said. “Our officers know every person who is homeless, who is living downtown, and we have social workers that reach out and work with them ... he was not a member of that community.”
The mayor said the city is “pulling the records of all crimes that happen at that address” and will be in touch with McDonald’s Corporate Office.
A Public Safety spokesperson added that “police from the sub-station and zone 2 regularly patrol the downtown core. They are also in contact with McDonald’s corporate to discuss safety at that location.”
Channel 11 asked both public safety officials and the mayor’s office for crime statistics reflecting downtown. We were directed to data that is broken down by zones. Downtown is part of zone 2, where there was a decrease in crime from December 2020 to January 2021. With that said, several other neighborhoods, including Lawrenceville, comprise zone 2.
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