THERE’S A REAL SENSE OF AGGRAVATION FROM NEIGHBORS. SOME I SPOKE WITH TODAY TELLING PITTSBURGH’S ACTION NEWS FOUR THEY ARE FRUSTRATED AND HEARTBROKEN TO SEE THE VIOLENCE UNFOLDING IN THEIR OWN BACKYARD, ESPECIALLY VIOLENCE AMONG STUDENTS. THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THIS IS DEVASTED DATING DEVASTATING. ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER LIFE. LOST TO GUN VIOLENCE, THIS TIME ON THE STEPS OF OLIVER CITYWIDE ACADEMY. THOSE WHO CALLED THE MARSHALL-SHADELAND NEIGHBORHOOD HOME WHERE THE SCHOOL IS LOCATED SAY THEY’VE HAD ENOUGH. IT’S LIKE HERE WE GO AGAIN, YOU KNOW, ANOTHER MORNING WITH POLICE CARS CLOSING OFF THE STREET. IT’S VERY FRUSTRATING. WHEN WE MET LINDA STAPLETON AND JUDY LANDA, THEY WERE PUTTING UP FLIERS FOR THEIR ANNUAL MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND NEIGHBORHOOD WIDE YARD SALE, 20 YEARS AGO, ROUGHLY. THIS NEIGHBORHOOD WAS ONE OF THE SAFEST NEIGHBORHOODS, NOT JUST ON THE NORTH SIDE, BUT IN THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH. BOTH WOMEN HAVE CALLED THIS AREA HOME FOR YEARS AND BOTH ACTUALLY GRADUATED FROM OLIVER BACK WHEN IT WAS JUST AN AREA HIGH SCHOOL. THEY WORRY THAT THE CLOSING OF THE SHUMAN JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER MEANS SOME KIDS AREN’T GETTING THE SUPPORT THEY NEED. AND A DIRECT RESULT OF SHUMAN CENTER BEING CLOSED. SO AS A CITIZEN OF PITTSBURGH, AS A TAXPAYER, AS A RESIDENT OF AN OTHERWISE PEACEFUL, LOVELY NEIGHBORHOOD ON A MAIN ARTERY GETTING TO AND FROM DOWNTOWN PITTSBURGH, IT’S JUST DEVASTATING. IT’S DEVASTATING BEYOND BELIEF. AND JUST IN THE TIME THAT WE’VE SPENT OUT HERE TODAY IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD AND TALKING TO THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE, WE’VE HAD A NUMBER OF PEOPLE DRIVING BY. STOP AND TELL US THAT SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE. AND SOON. MANY WHO DROVE BY AND STOPPED SAID THIS NEIGHBORHOOD CANNOT TAKE MUCH MORE. REPORTING FROM PITTSBURGH’S MARSHALL-SHADELAND N
'It's absolutely devastating': Neighbors react to shooting outside of Oliver Citywide Academy
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Updated: 5:10 PM EDT May 24, 2023
One student is dead and another is in custody after a shooting outside of Oliver Citywide Academy Wednesday morning. As police investigated along Brighton Road, neighbors watched and waited. "This is devastating, absolutely devastating," Judi Landa said.Landa says she was having her morning coffee when she began to hear the sirens. She and her neighbor were walking around the area putting up signs for their neighborhood yard sale. They returned home and turned on her police scanner and saw the officers as they began to arrive on scene. "I hear all of the troops coming to my immediate neighborhood. I hear one street, then another street, then a third street being blocked," Landa said. "Not long after, we see the motorcycles, the lights, the streets being blocked, major intersections at the height of rush hour."Police were called to the scene just before 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning just as students began arriving to school for the day. Oliver Citywide Academy serves students with behavioral issues from grades three to 12. "I feel like this has a lot to do with the Shuman Center Closing," Landa said before adding, "As a citizen of Pittsburgh, as a taxpayer, as a resident of an otherwise peaceful, lovely neighborhood on a main artery getting to and from downtown Pittsburgh, it's just devastating. It's devastating beyond belief." Linda Stapleton says Wednesday's scene brought back memories from January of last year when a student was shot and killed in a van parked outside of the school during dismissal. Two brothers have been charged in connection with that case. "My first thought was, 'Oh no, not again,'" Stapleton said. "It's frustrating and it's sad."
PITTSBURGH — One student is dead and another is in custody after a shooting outside of Oliver Citywide Academy Wednesday morning. As police investigated along Brighton Road, neighbors watched and waited.
"This is devastating, absolutely devastating," Judi Landa said.
Landa says she was having her morning coffee when she began to hear the sirens. She and her neighbor were walking around the area putting up signs for their neighborhood yard sale. They returned home and turned on her police scanner and saw the officers as they began to arrive on scene.
"I hear all of the troops coming to my immediate neighborhood. I hear one street, then another street, then a third street being blocked," Landa said. "Not long after, we see the motorcycles, the lights, the streets being blocked, major intersections at the height of rush hour."
Police were called to the scene just before 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning just as students began arriving to school for the day. Oliver Citywide Academy serves students with behavioral issues from grades three to 12.
"I feel like this has a lot to do with the Shuman Center Closing," Landa said before adding, "As a citizen of Pittsburgh, as a taxpayer, as a resident of an otherwise peaceful, lovely neighborhood on a main artery getting to and from downtown Pittsburgh, it's just devastating. It's devastating beyond belief."
Linda Stapleton says Wednesday's scene brought back memories from January of last year when a student was shot and killed in a van parked outside of the school during dismissal. Two brothers have been charged in connection with that case.
"My first thought was, 'Oh no, not again,'" Stapleton said. "It's frustrating and it's sad."
