High-powered guns, drugs seized from teens in North Side

Pittsburgh police officers doing undercover work in the North Side seized high-powered weapons and heroin from three teenagers, officials said.

The officers were in the 1700 block of Manhattan Street in Manchester on Thursday when they saw a group of teens run and hide behind a row of houses and a parked car, said police Cmdr. RaShall Brackney.

"One of the teens our officers knew to be a member of the Manchester OGs gang," Brackney said.

The officers saw two teens stuffing items into what appeared to be a bag but was actually a jacket, Brackney said. Inside the jacket, the officers found two SKS assault rifles and a Ruger semi-automatic pistol, Brackney said. One of the assault rifles was equipped with a bayonet. All of the weapons were loaded, she said.

A third teenager ran and hid behind a car. The officers saw him putting something underneath the car and recovered a loaded 9 mm handgun and 30 stamp bags of heroin, Brackney said. The teens had more than $1,100 in cash on them, Brackney said.

Police took the 15-year-old and two 16-year-olds to Shuman Juvenile Detention Center, she said. Their names were not released.

They are charged with a total of five counts of possession of a firearm by a minor, two counts each of possession of heroin with intent to deliver, conspiracy, possession of a firearm with an altered serial number and one count of receiving stolen property. The Ruger pistol was reported stolen, Brackney said.

"That fact that these juveniles are involved in heavy weaponry this young greatly concerns me," Brackney said. "These assault rifles are meant to kill, and I'm glad our officers were able to intercept them through proactive patrols."