A teenage boy was shot and wounded on a Downtown Pittsburgh street late Wednesday afternoon, and police have detained the suspected shooter.
The incident, a block from the Downtown police substation, happened just after 4 p.m. in the 400 block of Smithfield Street.
A city police officer who was driving down Smithfield Street heard a gunshot, according to Cara Cruz, a police spokesperson, who addressed the media near the shooting scene.
The victim was shot in the abdomen and rushed to the hospital in critical, but stable condition, Cruz said.
The officer saw the suspected assailant drop the gun, Cruz said. The man, believed to be 21, was taken detained and questioned.
“There are no charges at this time and the investigation is ongoing,” Cruz said Thursday morning.
The shooting took place in front of a vacant building across the street from the former Kaufmann’s department store, Cruz said. Employees from three businesses operating there — Target, Burlington Coat Factory and Five Below — declined to speak Wednesday to a TribLive reporter.
It was not clear how many shots were fired, and police did not provide details about the suspect’s apprehension.
Cruz said investigators did not yet know if the shooting was random or targeted.
Wednesday’s incident marked the second nonfatal shooting Downtown this year, according to online data.
There were two nonfatal shootings in the city’s central business district last year, down from eight a year earlier.
Yellow crime scene tape was draped Wednesday afternoon between streetlights and utility poles on Smithfield Street and Forbes Avenue as nearly a dozen officers rerouted Downtown traffic. Police shut down access to two city blocks.
The scene was cleared about 5:05 p.m.
Olga George, a spokesperson for Mayor Ed Gainey, directed specific questions about the incident to police. She noted that police responded quickly but beyond that had no comment.
George said Gainey was at an event for his reelection campaign and was not immediately available to address the incident.
Anthony Coghill, City Council’s public safety chairman, said he was troubled by the daylight shooting.
“I know the mayor’s always saying they’re clearing up Downtown, but I don’t see it that way, and I don’t think the public sees it that way,” Coghill said.
“Incidents like this continue to happen. It’s just not good for public perception or the safety of people who have to work Downtown. It’s unsettling just to hear of another shooting. Innocent lives could be lost when people start firing guns in the middle of the daylight.”
City Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle, whose district covers part of Downtown, said he did not believe the shooting reflects broader public safety problems in the neighborhood.
“This is an unfortunate incident. I also believe it’s an isolated incident that probably could’ve occurred anywhere,” Lavelle said. “I don’t believe it was partial to the fact it was Downtown but rather there was a confrontation that ensued.”
Lavelle said he did not have details regarding the confrontation or whether the victim and shooter knew one another.