A woman angered that someone called Pittsburgh police to resolve a neighborhood argument she had not been part of in Larimer on Monday is accused of firing multiple shots at a family of seven, critically injuring one.
Pittsburgh police charged Latasha Thorne, 34, of Homewood South on Friday with attempted homicide, seven counts of aggravated assault and reckless endangerment, and two firearms offenses.
A warrant was issued for Thorne’s arrest, and she had not been arraigned on the charges as of Saturday, according to court records.
In a criminal complaint, police said Thorne fired seven or eight rounds at a couple and their five children behind their home on Mayflower Street. Four of the five children were juveniles.
The man had been shot in the abdomen and hip and was in critical condition when taken to UPMC Presbyterian hospital, the complaint states.
The woman told police that Thorne had not been involved in the earlier dispute among neighbors, which had prompted her to call police to defuse, the complaint states. The woman said she had never seen Thorne before and did not know her.
She told police that after seeing Thorne walking down the alley, Thorne said something along the lines of, “This is for calling the cops to my block,” before Thorne pulled a gun out from her waistband, the complaint states.
The woman told police she got a gun from her purse and fired two shots back at Thorne to get her to stop shooting, the complaint states.
Thorne then ran away.
Police said detectives found video footage of the incident, which showed Thorne firing multiple rounds and then running between houses and up Lenora Street toward Meadow Street. Police determined she got into a car and fled the area, the complaint states.
Detectives identified the driver of the car, and police spoke to that person Friday, the complaint states.
The driver, who knows Thorne only as “Tootie,” said Thorne called and asked for a ride. About four minutes after the shooting, Thorne asked the driver to pick her up at the end of Larimer Avenue near Joseph Street or Shetland Avenue. The driver took Thorne to Shadyside, near Aldi, the complaint states.
The couple and the driver all positively identified Thorne, police said in the complaint.
Police said Thorne is not allowed to possess a gun because she plead guilty in 2012 to possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and pleaded guilty in 2015 to aggravated assault.
Thorne also does not have a concealed carry permit, the complaint states.