A funeral in Pittsburgh ended up in mayhem on Friday leaving six people injured outside a church with cops detaining 2 individuals. The funeral, which took place at the Destiny of Faith Church on Brighton Road had the police scrambling after receiving calls about a shooting outside of the church at around 12:04 p.m. The funeral service was being held for 20-year-old John James Hornezes Jr., one of three individuals fatally shot in the same area two weeks ago.
According to NBC News, police responded to a call about shots being fired outside of the church. Pittsburg Police Commander Richard Ford said during a news conference that about 15 shots were reported during the incident while ShotSpotter alerts detected 20 rounds being fired just before noon.
The gunshots injured six people, with four of the victims able to bring themselves to a local hospital for treatment. One had initially left the scene but was hospitalized later on. The sixth victim was found with a gunshot wound near the church and was taken by EMS ambulance to the hospital. The victim was earlier reported to be in critical condition but is now stable.
Video footage of the funeral service captured mourners inside the church scrambling to safety after gunfire erupted. Police do not have a motive as yet but Ford told reporters that they are still trying to determine if the earlier shooting that involved Hornezes was linked to the funeral shooting.
“There’s reason to believe there were obviously specific people targeted,” Ford said.
Sources said someone was spotted driving by the church in a vehicle and started firing shots. Police were not able to confirm if this was the source of the gunshots but believed there was more than just one shooter.
On Friday night, Pittsburgh Public Safety reported that two persons of interest had been detained and were later identified as 19-year-old Shawn Davis and a 16-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons. Both were arrested in connection with the church shooting and are facing charges of criminal attempted homicide, criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault and firearms discharges. The investigation is ongoing while both suspects are detained at the Allegheny County Jail.
