A man out on bail for a March shooting near Allegheny County Police headquarters was critically shot today during a standoff with Pittsburgh police in Larimer.
Police said David Bush, 36, walked out of his home in the 500 block of Finley Street fumbling with a sawed-off shotgun this morning after SWAT officers deployed gas canisters in the house.
Bush moved behind his car, lifted the gun toward officers and fired, Cmdr. Thomas Stangrecki said at a press conference this afternoon.
Officers immediately returned fire and struck Bush in the abdomen, Strangrecki said. He was taken to UPMC Presbyterian where he is in critical condition and undergoing surgery, Stangrecki said.
Officers traced Bush to his home following a domestic dispute on Idlewild Street in Homewood. A woman told police Bush, her former boyfriend, choked her and put a gun in her face about 10:15 a.m., Stangrecki said.
Bush was arrested in March in connection with a shooting that stemmed from a road rage incident.
In that incident, he was charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and firearms violations after two witnesses told police they saw him shoot county contract employee Lamont Johns several times in the groin and legs in the parking lot of county police headquarters.
Bush later told police he shot Johns but "didn't want to kill him ... After I shot him, I made sure he was alive," court documents state.
Police Chief Nate Harper said it was unclear why Bush was out of jail following that shooting. Court documents show Bush was released on $50,000 bond a day after the March 7 incident.
"We'll have to research it to actually see why," Harper said. "We don't know what occurred between March and now."
The three officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave per police protocol.
