PITTSBURGH — Two 14-year-olds are in the Allegheny County jail charged with homicide.
This comes two days after police said a 15-year-old opened gunfire, shooting three people on the South Side.
You can hear the frustration in the voices of city leaders talking about a 15-year-old Clariton teen charged with going on a shooting spree early Thursday morning.
“What are you doing at 2 a.m. ... with a gun?” Pittsburgh public safety director Wendell Hissrich said.
Three people shot and countless others nearly killed as bullets pierced a bank where crews were doing construction.
>>>RELATED: 15-year-old arrested in connection with triple shooting in Pittsburgh’s South Side
Police say kids as young as 12 are spilling out in the streets into the early morning hours.
“A lot of them aren’t even from the city. They’re from the outer suburbs and I don’t even know how they’re getting down here,” Hissrich said.
Saturday, a 14-year-old turned himself in after police said he shot and killed a man in Duquesne back in March.
A second 14-year-old, the victim’s cousin, already was behind bars accused in the murder.
Rashad Byrdsong is the founder of the Community Empowerment Association. He connects at-risk teens with leaders, coaches and mentors to help with conflict resolution and to keep young people off the streets.
“We can’t just be talking about gun violence. We need to roll up our sleeves, get out in the streets and get involved with young people,” Byrdsong said.
Public safety leaders said this is not just a Pittsburgh problem. It is nationwide. They urge families and communities to step up.
The two 14-year-olds arrested in the Duquense homicide will be charged as adults, as will the 15-year-old alleged shooter in the South Side incident.
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