First came the muffled sound of a gunshot, neighbors said, followed closely by anguished screams coming from the Fineview apartment where a little boy lay bleeding to death late Tuesday afternoon from a gunshot in the chest.
Pittsburgh police Sgt. Lou Caporali, responding to the 4:55 p.m. call of a child accidentally shot in an Allegheny Dwellings apartment, got to Sandusky Court, ran up a steep embankment, through the door and up the stairs before emerging a short time later with the child cradled in his arms and running to paramedics, neighbors said.
As Caporali and paramedics sped off toward nearby Allegheny General Hospital where the toddler died, neighbors watched officers place the man police called the child's stepfather into the back of a police car and whisk him to city detective headquarters for questioning. Another police officer who saw the child leaned helplessly against his patrol car, crying.
Josiah Gift Taylor, 22 months, of the Hill District died at 5:20 p.m. in the hospital, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office said.
Police charged the man, Harrison Marshman Jr., 30, with homicide and child endangerment for acting “negligently and recklessly” with a handgun, city police Cmdr. Larry Scirotto said.
“There's no justification” for the death of the child, Scirotto said.
The commander did not explain exactly what Marshman was doing with the 9 mm handgun when it discharged.
Neighbors mourned the death of the toddler and praised Caporali.
“I just want to hug (Caporali),” said Nicole Wilson, 57, as she watched the sergeant pacing in front of the apartment where the shooting occurred. “I heard a pow, like it was muffled. Then we heard a scream, just one guy screaming. (Caporali) ran up the steps, grabbed the baby, ran down the hill and put the baby in the paramedic (ambulance). Then he started crying. He's a good cop.”
“He's my hero,” agreed Wendell “Wink” Kelly, 50, as he sat hugging his own 5-year-old grandson, Jayden.
“He ran up the steps like a football player. I don't think his feet touched the ground. When he came out, there was just a little spot (of blood) on the baby's chest. Seconds later, there was a lot of blood,” Kelly said. “I'm sure (Caporali's) a dad. That's what a dad would do. He acted like the child was his.”
Caporali said he was only one of several officers who tried to help the toddler.
“When I got to the top of the stairs, I was handed the baby (by Marshman),” Caporali said. “I ran downstairs and laid him on the ground to try to begin CPR. Officer (Anthony) Beatty said, ‘I'll do CPR,' but before we could begin, the paramedics rolled up, so I picked the baby up and took him to them. I got up in the paramedic wagon and went with them to the hospital.
“When I'm alone, that's when the emotions get to you a little bit,” Caporali said. “I have children of my own. I've been on the job for 22 years, and I've seen a lot of things, but that's the first time anybody ever handed me a baby in my arms.”
Marshman was distraught, Kelly said.
“He was beyond disturbed. It was horrible. I heard the sound (of the gunshot), like a muffled pop. Then we heard the yelling, like someone losing his mind,” Kelly said.
Cheryl Gainey, 64, president of the Allegheny Dwellings Tenant Council, said she believes the shooting had to be an accident.
“He's a nice young man. I see him strolling the baby every day up the hill. He watched the baby while the mother went to work,” Gainey said. “He's not a violent person. He don't like drugs in the house. This is a tragedy that shouldn't have happened. I don't even know why he would have a gun in the house around kids. Who would have a gun around kids?”
Michael Hasch is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at 412-320-7820 or mhasch@tribweb.com.
