Pitt. Sniper Turns Out To Be Man With Pellet Gun: SWAT Teams Searched Building For Man With Rifle

KUTV
Mar. 22, 2006

(KUTV) PITTSBURGH, Pa.- City streets in Pittsburgh were shut down Wednesday afternoon while SWAT teams searched for a man with a rifle, who was reportedly seen entering a downtown building.

A witness called 911 reporting that a man wearing camouflage had entered the PACT building with a high-powered rifle. Police blocked off traffic in the area and kept people locked inside nearby buildings.

According to reports, the suspect was a white man with a beard wearing camouflage pants.

Officials say it turns out that the man with a rifle was actually a building employee who was shooting pigeons with a pellet gun.

All streets were re-opened around 3:00 p.m. EST.

Gunman on Loose in Pittsburgh, Cops Say
FoxNews - 4 Hours ago

PITTSBURGH — Police closed off streets and were searching downtown buildings after several witnesses reported seeing a man with a rifle Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

There were no reports of shots being fired.

Dozens of Pittsburgh police were seen near the theater district looking to the man with a gun that had a scope of lighting device on it. There were reports that the suspect wore a beard and camouflage clothing.

Police did not officially comment on the search but officers also were seen searching a five-story building where one witness told police the man might have been on the roof.

A SWAT team was also called to the scene.

Police Hunt 'Sniper,' Find Pigeon Shooter
Associated Press

PITTSBURGH — Police cordoned off downtown streets for nearly two hours and SWAT teams searched buildings Wednesday for a possible sniper with a rifle, but it turned out to be a man with a pellet gun that he used to shoot pigeons.

Police Chief Dom Costa said charges were being considered because it is illegal to shoot a pellet gun in the city.

While it may be legal to carry a pellet gun, he said, "there's not a lot of common sense to it."

A caller to 911 reported seeing a man dressed partly in camouflage and carrying what appeared to be a rifle equipped with a telescopic or laser gunsight, police at the scene said.

Mayor Bob O'Connor, wearing a bulletproof vest, called the man a "presumed sniper."

Several roads and bridges leading into the city were closed, city buses were rerouted, and students at nearby schools were kept inside.

However, after focusing on a building in the city's theater district, police said they had located the man's supervisor, who said the man sometimes takes his pellet gun to work to shoot pigeons. Police did not release the man's name or say what his job is.