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Part of Hazelwood Avenue on the border of Hazelwood and Greenfield was shut down for about 90 minutes Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019 as police investigated a shooting around 9:42 a.m. near Calvary Cemetery.
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Suspect arrested in fatal shooting of elderly man in vehicle in Hazelwood

Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette

Suspect arrested in fatal shooting of elderly man in vehicle in Hazelwood

A suspect has been arrested in the fatal shooting of an elderly man Saturday morning on the border of Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood and Greenfield neighborhoods.

Police arrested Anthony W. Miller, 27, of White Oak, Saturday evening on charges of homicide and robbery as well as weapons violations.

Police believe the victim, identified as Samuel Rende, 90, was “targeted” in the shooting.

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Mr. Rende was found with multiple gunshot wounds, including one in the head, while sitting in a black pickup truck at Hazelwood Avenue and Bray Street at the entrance to Calvary Cemetery around 9:45 a.m., according to a criminal complaint. Police briefly shut down the cemetery and part of Hazelwood Avenue to search for the suspect.

A December 1982 mugshot of Samuel Rende. (File photo)
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The vehicle had broken glass on the driver’s side door, a handicap placard attached to the rear-view mirror and a U.S. Marines front license plate.

Mr. Rende was initially taken to UPMC Presbyterian in critical condition but was pronounced dead at the hospital at 1 p.m., according to police. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office said Mr. Rende died as a result of the shot to the head.

A witness told officers that he heard gunshots and gave police a brief description of a man he saw walking with a gun and a black dog near the scene of the shooting. Police called in the SWAT team and a police dog to assist in searching the cemetery for the suspect. Several minutes later, officers found Mr. Miller in the 400 block of Mansion Street south of the cemetery near the city’s Glen Hazel neighborhood.

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Police said Mr. Miller had two guns on him and a blood-stained gold ring that belonged to Mr. Rende.

The complaint said the witness identified Mr. Miller as the man he saw walking with a gun in his hand after the shooting.

The suspect was taken to police headquarters, where authorities said Mr. Miller admitted to shooting Mr. Rende and to stealing the ring and a watch, according to the complaint. He told police he threw the watch in the woods near the cemetery.

While officers were searching for the suspect, Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich sought to reassure the public by saying that investigators did not think the shooting was random.

Anthony W. Miller, 27, who is charged with homicide in the Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019 shooting death of Samuel Rende, 90, on the border of Greenfield and Hazelwood, is seen here in a 2010 photograph taken in California.
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“We believe that this was targeted towards that individual,” Mr. Hissrich said.

First Published: December 28, 2019, 3:11 p.m.
Updated: December 29, 2019, 12:10 a.m.

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Part of Hazelwood Avenue on the border of Hazelwood and Greenfield was shut down for about 90 minutes Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019 as police investigated a shooting around 9:42 a.m. near Calvary Cemetery.  (Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette)
Anthony W. Miller, 27, of White Oak  (Allegheny County Jail)
Authorities put up a cordon on Hazelwood Avenue near Murray Avenue on the border of Greenfield and Hazelwood near Calvary Cemetery in response to a morning shooting on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019.  (Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette)
Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich, right, and police Cmdr. Michael Pilyih look at evidence markers in the 700 block of Hazelwood Avenue on the border of Hazelwood and Greenfield on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019. Police are searching for a shooting suspect that fled into nearby Calvary Cemetery.  (Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette)
Pittsburgh police collect evidence after an elderly man was shot in a pickup truck in the 700 block of Hazelwood Avenue around 9:42 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019.  (Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette)
A flatbed prepares to two a Dodge Ram pickup truck in the 700 block of Hazelwood Avenue in which an elderly man was found with multiple gunshot wounds on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019.  (Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette)
Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette
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