A man dressed in all black walked into a crowd gathered in front of the Benedum Center Wednesday evening for a showing of “Fiddler on the Roof” and opened fire with an Airsoft gun.
The pistol looked real and the panicked crowd scattered as the man, believed to be 29-year-old Andre Freeman Jr. of Lincoln-Lemington, started shooting around 7:15 p.m., according to a criminal complaint.
“I heard this popping sound,” said Kevin C. Wilkes, 51, chief security officer. “I looked to the left and saw a gentleman with what appeared to be a gun in his hand, and he was walking down the street aiming it toward the area where our guests were located, going inside the Benedum.”
The man abruptly stopped shooting and started to jog away; Mr. Wilkes gave chase. He caught up with Mr. Freeman and tackled him at the corner of Penn Avenue and Seventh Street.
Mr. Freeman dropped the Airsoft gun and another theater employee, Carolyn Johnson, kicked the weapon away and stood over it. Moments later, a uniformed police officer who’d been working security at the theater arrived and took Mr. Freeman into custody.
“It was pretty unbelievable,” Mr. Wilkes said.
After Mr. Freeman was handcuffed, Mr. Wilkes and the officer examined the gun and realized it was an Airsoft weapon; the pellets would likely break the skin, but not do serious damage. No one was hurt in the incident.
Mr. Freeman did not speak much after he was arrested, Mr. Wilkes said, and was only marginally responsive to questions.
“What I can share is that he made no anti-Semitic remarks or anything of that nature,” said Mr. Wilkes, who spent nearly two decades as a Pittsburgh police officer before moving into the private security sector.
Mr. Freeman was charged with discharging an airgun, carrying a fake firearm, causing or risking catastrophe, simple assault and disorderly conduct, according to a criminal complaint. He was booked into the Allegheny County Jail and is being held on a $25,000 bond.
The incident happened just six days after the Benedum Center put in place new security measures at its doors, including metal detectors and bag inspections. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has rolled out such security at several venues in the Cultural District in the past two months.
“It just reiterates to me in today’s climate we are doing the right things to ensure the safety and security of our guests,” Mr. Wilkes said.
Mr. Freeman has several minor arrests on his record dating back to 2013, including for simple assault, disorderly conduct and drug possession. He is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing in City Court, Downtown, on Dec. 3.
Shelly Bradbury: 412-263-1999, sbradbury@post-gazette.com or follow @ShellyBradbury on Twitter.
First Published: November 23, 2018, 5:09 p.m.
