A 16-year-old boy has been charged in connection with the shooting of a 17-year-old boy outside the Wood Street T station Tuesday afternoon in Downtown Pittsburgh.
The victim was shot in the chest by a .22-caliber handgun about 4 p.m. and collapsed just outside the station, police said.
He was taken to UPMC Mercy in critical condition but was eventually upgraded to stable condition, according to city public safety spokeswoman Sonya Toler.
Police later said they arrested Denzel Glover, 16, of Northview Heights and charged him with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and other offenses. He was being held in the Allegheny County Jail on $10,000 bond.
According to a criminal complaint, police said a uniformed off-duty police officer was at a nearby restaurant when he heard a gunshot followed by yelling and a commotion, and he ran on foot to the scene where he saw Port Authority officers giving aid to the gunshot victim.
Bystanders pointed the officer in the direction where the shooter had fled, noting that he had gotten onto a bus. The officer saw a Port Authority bus pulling away.
Once alerted, the bus driver stopped the bus on the North Side where officers responded and Denzel was detained. Police found a backpack in an alley near Federal Street with a loaded revolver inside. Video surveillance showed the suspect had been carrying a backpack similar to the one that contained the revolver.
Percy Brown, 61, of McKees Rocks said he was waiting for a friend outside Sally Beauty Supply at the corner of Wood Street and Sixth Avenue when he heard what sounded like a firecracker.
But when he looked across the street toward the T station and saw a young man fall down, he said he knew what he heard was in fact a gunshot. Police officers with guns drawn quickly came around the corner of the station, he said.
"I came over and tried to help him," Mr. Brown said. "But the officer was already here helping him."
Officers applied pressure on the gunshot wound, he said, before the victim was taken away in an ambulance.
Mr. Brown said scores of high school-aged children were near the T station at the time of the shooting.
According to a Port Authority spokesman, light-rail service was not impacted and added that police closed off an entrance to the station during the investigation.
The Wood Street T station and surrounding areas of Downtown have been plagued by violent episodes in recent years.
In May 2015, five white men attacked a black man, beat him, pushed him onto the train tracks and stole his cooler in what was deemed a racist assault.
In December 2015, a fracas ensued at the station between police officers and several people trying to prevent the arrests of a man and a teenager.
On July 4, four people, including a 15-year-old girl, were shot at the nearby intersection of Seventh Street and Liberty Avenue.
City, police and Port Authority officials have acknowledged concerns about violence in that area.
Mayor Bill Peduto issued a statement Tuesday night that said authorities were investigating whether the shooting had any connection with other recent crimes in Downtown, including the July 4 shooting and fights during the Regatta.
“In the meantime, we will be increasing both uniformed and plain clothes officer patrols in critical areas downtown during after school hours,” the statement read. “In addition, we are working with Port Authority and Pittsburgh Public Schools police to assist us in protecting everyone Downtown and lessen the chance of retaliatory action.”
First Published: September 13, 2016, 9:20 p.m.
Updated: September 14, 2016, 3:19 a.m.
