A morning melee Wednesday at the Greyhound station in Downtown Pittsburgh that ended with a shooting by law enforcement officers was triggered by a dispute between bus passengers over one taking pictures of the other’s family, according to court paperwork.
Pittsburgh police on Friday charged Rayshon Mason, 32, of New York State, with attempted homicide and aggravated assault for trying to stab another passenger with a folding knife.
Mason remains in the hospital under police guard awaiting arraignment. Police did not know his condition but said he is expected to live.
While the criminal complaint against Mason provides a blow-by-blow of the scuffle prior to the shooting, it does not give many details about the shooting itself by two agents with the state Attorney General’s Office.
Most of the incident, including the shooting, was captured on surveillance video.
Pittsburgh police did not identify the victim or the agents who shot Mason around 6:40 a.m. inside the station concourse at 11th Street.
The victim told police that problems began when Mason took pictures on the Baltimore-Pittsburgh bus of the passenger’s family. Police provided no other specifics.
When passengers disembarked, Mason approached the victim. The two started arguing and Mason bearhugged the victim, according to the complaint.
Surveillance footage showed the two grappling as they fell to the ground.
Another passenger tried to break up the scuffle. The victim got up and kicked Mason when he was down, the complaint said.
Mason then got to his feet. Holding something that appeared to be a weapon, he walked toward the victim, who backed up into a glass wall between the concourse and the bus terminal, according to police.
Video showed Mason moving his arm in a way consistent with a knife attack, police said.
Another person in the vicinity tried to stop Mason and held up an unidentified object for protection, police said.
The victim fell, avoiding being stabbed but sustaining a head injury, and the two agents opened fire. Police said Mason was struck in the chest and stomach.
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Mason was taken to UPMC Presbyterian in Oakland, while the victim was treated for a cut to the head at Allegheny General Hospital on the North Side and released.
A folding knife with the blade out was found under the bus that had carried the passengers.
The agents happened to be at the station as part of a task force conducting a drug investigation unrelated to the incident.
It was unclear how close Mason was to the victim, whether the agents identified themselves, when they became aware of the situation or where they were in relation to Mason when they fired.
“They weren’t behind,” said Cara Cruz, a Pittsburgh police spokeswoman. Cruz said she saw the video but could release only limited information since the incident was under investigation.
Earlier this week, Cruz said that the agents ordered the defendant to drop his knife, but that is not reflected in the police account.
Cruz said Friday that she could not explain the discrepancy.
She said that a police supervisor informed her that the agents had told Mason to drop his weapon.
Pittsburgh police are investigating whether the agents’ actions were justified. They will forward their findings to the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office, which declined comment while the investigation is pending.
Brett Hambright, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, declined to answer questions Friday about the incident, referring a reporter to a previous statement.
He said the agents who opened fire are on administrative duty, which is routine after a shooting.
Pittsburgh police have responded to at least 13 crime reports at the bus station this year through Nov. 6.
Jonathan D. Silver is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jonathan at jsilver@triblive.com.