Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, Oct. 17:
3 firefighters injured in Ross blaze
A smoky fire at a Ross auto service station Wednesday evening sent three firefighters to a hospital with minor injuries, Trib news partner WTAE reported.
The blaze at Tao’s Auto Service on Babcock Boulevard was reported around 7 p.m.
Photos from the scene showed thick smoke billowing from the building.
A post on social media from Ross/West View EMSA indicated numerous fire departments were battling the blaze and additional EMS resources were called in.
Replacement ordered for stolen Tree of Life plaque
A replacement has been ordered after a memorial plaque honoring the lives lost in the Tree of Life synagogue shooting was recently found to be missing from Allderdice High School grounds, a Pittsburgh Public Schools spokesperson told TribLive news partner WTAE.
That replacement will be ready for the upcoming commemoration of the deadliest act of antisemitism in U.S. history. A gunman tore into the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill Oct. 27, 2018 and killed 11 Jews who were worshipping there.
A review of security footage didn’t offer any suspects in the missing plaque, the spokesperson told the news outlet.
Alan Mallinger, whose 97-year-old mother Rose was killed in the attack, hopes the person who took the plaque will return it.
“You know, some of them went to Allderdice. A lot of their kids went to Allderdice,” he told WTAE. “It’s a neighborhood school.”
The school district has shown that they intend to keep the memory alive by replacing the plaque, said Maggie Feinstein, executive director for the 10.27 Healing Partnership.
“It’s disappointing whenever you have people who take something sacred and do something to deface that,” she said.
2nd gun found this week at Pittsburgh airport
A handgun belonging to a Munhall woman was confiscated Wednesday at the main security checkpoint at Pittsburgh International Airport, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
The 9 mm firearm was loaded with 12 bullets, authorities said. The gun was found in one of the woman’s carry-on bags.
It was the second time officials found a gun at the checkpoint this week.
It was the 36th gun found at the airport’s security checkpoints so far in 2024, according to statistics released by TSA. That figure is the second most amount of guns found at security checkpoints since 2017, surpassing 2019 when 35 guns were confiscated. The record during that time period is 44 firearms in 2023.
Aliquippa man convicted of murdering transgender woman
An Aliquippa man was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder and possession of a weapon in connection with the shooting death of a transgender woman in Beaver County, according to court records and Trib news partner WTAE.
The shooting was reported in November 2021 and Brandon L. Murray, 36, was found dead at her Aliquippa apartment.
Beaver County District Attorney Nate Bible told the news outlet that Darnese D. Raines, 49, was arrested more than a year after the killing when forensic evidence connected him to the scene. A motive remains unclear but prosecutors believe there was a sexual component to the shooting, Bible said.
Wanted man found after falling through ceiling
Allegheny County sheriff’s deputies looking for a wanted man Wednesday in Pittsburgh found him when he came crashing through a ceiling of a home there.
David Smith, 45, who previously lived in McKees Rocks but is now a resident of Delaware, had been considered a fugitive since August after warrants were issued for his arrest on probation violations, according to Sheriff Kevin M. Kraus.
Deputies got information this week that Smith was staying at a home on Sorento Street. A woman there let them inside and claimed to have no information on his whereabouts, Kraus said.
A search of the home led deputies to a second-floor bedroom closet where they attempted to remove an access panel to the attic. They spotted a foot that came through the ceiling and then Smith fell through the ceiling in another bedroom, he said.
Smith was taken to the Allegheny County Jail. Authorities said he had minor scrapes that didn’t require medical attention.
Route 28 work at Highland Park Bridge
Ramps at the Route 28 Highland Park Bridge interchange in Sharpsburg are set to be closed this weekend for construction work, according to PennDOT.
The ramps from northbound Route 28 to the Highland Park Bridge and from north to south Route 28 on Freeport Road are scheduled to be closed from 7 p.m. Friday to Monday at 6 a.m., weather permitting. Crews will be doing epoxy overlay work.
There will be detours posted by PennDOT:
• For the Route 28 ramp to Highland Park Bridge, drivers will be directed to the Fox Chapel Road/Waterworks Drive/Freeport Road exit for Route 8 and then onto southbound Route 28 to Exit 6 for Route 8/Highland Park Bridge/Aspinwall.
• For the Route 28 north ramp to Freeport Road, drivers will be directed to the Fox Chapel Road/Waterworks Drive/Freeport Road exit for Route 8 and onto Freeport Road to the Highland Park Bridge.
• For the Route 28 south ramp to Freeport Road, drivers will be directed to Exit 5 for Route 8 and onto Kittanning Street, Butler Street, Bridge Street and North Main Street. Motorists should follow the Main Street detour in Sharpsburg to the Highland Park Bridge.