A West Mifflin man died and his brother and a family friend were seriously injured after three men broke into their home Saturday morning and shot them in their bedrooms with an assault rifle, West Mifflin police said. Aaron "Cheech" Cardamone, also known as Frankie Cardamone, 25, died at Mercy Hospital, Uptown, after suffering stomach and leg wounds, said West Mifflin police Chief Joseph Popovich. John Cardamone and Kim Messenger, both 27, went to UPMC Presbyterian in Oakland. Police said John Cardamone, shot in the stomach, suffered life-threatening injuries and was in critical condition. A spokeswoman for the hospital would not release Messenger's condition. Popovich said she had been shot in the left leg. Six hours before the fatal shooting, two police cars were dispatched to the Cardamone home in the 2100 block of Pennsylvania Avenue after neighbors reported hearing gunshots, Popovich said. Police found that the windows of two vehicles belonging to the family, a Cadillac and a Jeep sport utility vehicle, had been shot out. "It looks like those two incidents are related," Popovich said. Police say they are looking for four men -- three black men suspected of being the assailants and a white man who was seen driving the getaway car, a blue-silver Oldsmobile Cutlass with the license plate FXN-4351. Anyone with information is asked to call West Mifflin police at 412-461-3125 or Allegheny County Police at 412-473-3000. Three intruders broke down a back door about 10:50 a.m., Popovich said, apparently leaving blood smeared by the door. They went upstairs, where they found Aaron Cardamone and Messenger sleeping in their respective bedrooms and shot them in their beds. Emergency response crews found John Cardamone lying in the doorway of a bedroom. Police found an assault rifle under the Cadillac. "When they busted in there, they surprised them," Popovich said. "They probably never saw the first shots coming." The slain man's parents, Dominic Cardamone and his ex-wife, Heidi Stepetich, were in the attic at the time of the shootings, while a family friend, Heidi Schindler, slept on the couch in the living room, Popovich said. Stepetich left the house visibly upset after being questioned by police. Stepetich was seen being told by her sister-in-law, Kathia Marks, that her son had died. "I didn't know he was dying. No one told me he was dying," Stepetich cried from inside the vehicle. The Cardamones' white, frame house sits in a quiet, working-class neighborhood with well-maintained yards and small houses. The home is known in the community as the "eagle house" because the Cardamones had an eagle carved into a tree stump in their front yard. Residents said the neighborhood is peaceful. While the shooting saddened them, some neighbors said they were not surprised by it. "They're always fighting, screaming at each other. It's a mess over there," said Jo Ann Allen, who lives a few doors down. "I knew something bad would happen there. We always said someone was going to get killed in that house." Al and Mary Lou Manns live next door to the Cardamones and have heard arguments and loud music emanating from the house. "This is not a bad neighborhood, except for that house," said Al Manns, 61. "It's just a shame." His wife remembered Aaron Cardamone as a polite young man, who would volunteer to shovel her long driveway after heavy snow. She said he suffered from several ailments over the years, including a heart condition and leukemia. "He was definitely the nicest of the crew. He'd always say hello and take the time to talk," Mary Lou Manns said. "But we all knew something like this would happen eventually, and sure enough, now it did." Popovich said West Mifflin police had made several drug-related arrests at the house in recent years. Earlier this month, Aaron Cardamone was arrested by West Mifflin police on drug-related charges. He posted bail on Nov. 17. John Cardamone had faced drug and assault charges brought in August by Duquesne police, according to Allegheny County court records.

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