PITTSBURGH — Gunfire erupted outside a funeral Friday, leaving six people wounded and continuing a spate of gun violence across Pittsburgh’s North Side.
The shooting began around noon outside of Destiny of Faith church in the 3700 block of Brighton Road. Police said at least 20 rounds were fired.
Inside the church, loved ones mourned and remembered 20-year-old John Hornezes Jr.
Hornezes was among three people shot and killed Oct. 15 in a shootout near a gas station on Cedar Avenue. Police have said they believe he might have been one of the shooters. Two women at a nearby bus stop were killed in that shooting.
The funeral was being livestreamed via YouTube.
Footage shows horrified attendees screaming and ducking for cover as muffled but loud bangs can be heard. Someone shouted above the din of terror for everyone to stay inside. The video showed people gathering and taking cover in one corner of the front of the church.
The video feed eventually cuts out, but the sound of panic continues on for 10 more minutes.
Major crimes Cmdr. Richard Ford said it’s not clear whether the shooting was related to the Oct. 15 incident in any way.
“Any relation or what might have precipitated this shooting is still under investigation,” he said.
He said it appears more than one gun was fired.
North Side neighborhoods saw multiple instances of gun violence over the past 24 hours.
Three people were wounded when 34 shots were fired around midnight in Spring Hill.
Hours earlier, seven shots were fired in Perry South. One man was hit in the leg, and he told police the shots came from a dark-colored SUV.
Police did not announce any arrests or suspects in those incidents.
Through Thursday, the city had recorded 59 homicides, 25% more than the same time last year, Cmdr. Ford said during an Oct. 27 media briefing. Only one had taken place in Brighton Heights, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner.
The 115 nonfatal shootings as of then was down from 141 through the same period in 2021, Cmdr. Ford said. The most recent neighborhood-level data available only runs through the end of July, but as of then, three nonfatal shootings had taken place in Brighton Heights with six more in neighboring Marshall-Shadeland.
Through the same period last year, Brighton Heights hadn't had any such shootings, and Marshall-Shadeland had seen just two.
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