Charges filed following large fight, shooting outside Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh police made an arrest in connection with a large fight and shooting outside of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Thursday night.

Two people were shot outside the hospital after the fight, authorities said.

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Gerald Porter, 22, is facing four charges of aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person.

One of the shooting victims is the uncle of the 6-year-old who was shot in Homewood earlier in the evening.

Police were called about 10:30 p.m. for the fight on Penn Avenue in the city’s Lawrenceville neighborhood, and once officers got to the scene they were told that a man had been shot multiple times. He was taken to another hospital in critical condition, officials said.

The second person who was shot did not realize he had been hit by the gunfire until he got home, police said. He was last listed in stable condition.

Dozens of police cruisers were there and large portions of the sidewalk were blocked off with police tape near the entrance to Children’s Hospital. Entrances to nearby parking garages were also blocked.

Porter is being held at Allegheny County Jail.

Police said they would be reviewing the large numbers of security cameras in the area.

Community leaders are speaking out about the recent gun violence.

William Marshall founded the organization Stop the Violence Pittsburgh in 2013 after two members of his family were killed.

“It’s disheartening, whether it’s this week or last year, that we continue to go through this pattern of senseless killings and shootings,” he said.

Kenneth Huston is the Pennsylvania state president of the NAACP.

“I’m very concerned. I’m fearful for our youth. Every summer, I cringe and it shouldn’t be like that,” said Huston. “We cannot continue to pretend this is not an epidemic. It’s an epidemic.”

The NAACP is taking a stand against violence beyond the Pittsburgh region.

“We are now looking to work with the state, Governor Wolf’s administration and other organizations as to what we can do to have real outcomes-driven work done,” said Huston.

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