Shooting near Strip District nightclub sends one to hospital

Thanksgiving began violently for Pittsburgh clubgoers and bar customers in two separate incidents involving fights that escalated into shootings.

In the Strip District, a nightclub fight spilled out into the street early Thursday and erupted into a shooting involving as many as three guns, with one bullet striking a man in the chest, police said.

Around 2 a.m., Pittsburgh police received a report of the shooting near Smallman and 16th streets, Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Sonya Toler said. Officials said officers found multiple casings from “possibly three guns.” At least four cars had been struck by bullets.

The victim, whose identity was not released, was reported to be in stable condition at UPMC Presbyterian hospital.

Police said they have no description of a shooter. The Pittsburgh police group violent intervention unit is investigating.

Around the same time about five miles north, an argument in a Brentwood bar escalated into a 24-year-old man pulling out a gun and shooting a 29-year-old man in the stomach, Toler said.

Police received a report around 2:55 a.m. of an assault near the intersection of Stewart Avenue and Windfall Way in Carrick. While en route, dispatchers updated the incident to a shooting.

Officials said they found a 29-year-old man who had been shot in the abdomen but was conscious and taken to UPMC Mercy hospital. His name was not released.

An investigation found that a group of people were arguing inside Milestone Bar on Brownsville Road. When the bar closed, “the group continued arguing and fighting into Carrick,” Toler said.

Police said they found but have not arrested or charged the suspected shooter.

“The shooter was detained but, after consulting with the District Attorney’s office, charges have not been filed at this time,” Toler said.

District Attorney’s office spokesman Mike Manko said he could not provide information as to why no charges were filed.