A man found shot to death in a Stanton Heights elementary school parking lot Wednesday afternoon has been identified as Jordan Kearney, 20, who lived near the school, according to the county medical examiner's office and city police.
Mr. Kearney was found in a blue car parked in the lot at Sunnyside Elementary School by a passer-by. The school is at 4801 Stanton Ave, and Mr. Kearney lived in the neighborhood.
Public safety spokeswoman Sonya Toler said on Wednesday that the incident may have been linked to a report of shots fired around 11 p.m. Tuesday night. The car, with a white sheet fitted to cover its windshield, was removed from the lot shortly after 4 p.m. Pittsburgh police are investigating the shooting as a homicide.
A lockdown was put into place before the school’s normal dismissal time of 2:51 p.m., school officials said. It was later lifted around 4 p.m. and students were able to board their buses.
During the lockdown, Michael Synan, 63, was outside on the sidewalk, waiting for his 10-year-old granddaughter, Savannah, who is in fifth grade.
"I didn't know what was going on, I didn't know what to think," he said of the incident. "You hear about it all the time. You never really expect it.
"How do you prepare yourself for something like that?"
Louis DePellegrini, 63, lives next to the school. About 8 p.m. Tuesday, he heard a noise coming from the parking lot and first thought someone was banging on his fence.
"I went out to look - nothing unusual," he said. "Then around 11 p.m. I heard what sounded like an explosion. I went to the school parking lot but it was clear."
Mr. DePellegrini said he noticed a few cars in the lot when he checked, including the blue car that turned out to have the body inside. He also noticed a light blue hatchback continuously looping around Stanton Avenue and through the parking lot.
"I was going to call the police - I call the police often - because there's always a lot of activity going on after school," he said.
He decided not to call Tuesday night, however, because he concluded that the noise had come from a trash bin or from a school event letting out, he said.
"The thing that makes me afraid, upset, is that the body laid in that car after we heard the shots until school let out," he said.
An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow.
Councilwoman Deborah Gross, who represents District 7, released a statement Wednesday afternoon in regards to the shooting.
“My thoughts are with both the victim’s family and students and parents of Sunnyside Elementary,” she wrote. “I have been in direct contact with officials from our public safety department, and am grateful to them for their work to ensure the safety of Sunnyside students.”
First Published: December 17, 2014, 8:30 p.m.
Updated: December 18, 2014, 2:14 a.m.