Argument over rug leads to shooting in Wilkinsburg, police say

An argument over an outdoor rug lead to a shooting Saturday in Wilkinsburg, police said.

Wilkinsburg police said Gerald O. Daniels, 34, of Coal Street got into an argument with another man who had stepped on the rug that was on the ground behind an apartment building.

In a criminal complaint, police said when the man and his girlfriend left in her car, Daniels fired shots at them up the street. When they pulled over at a gas station as her car stalled, they found that the man had been hit in the shoulder.

The woman and man got a ride to UPMC Mercy.

Earlier that morning, shortly before 11 a.m., officers found nothing after responding to calls for shots fired at two locations, Center and Ramsey streets and Swissvale and Franklin avenues. A resident flagged down an officer in the 900 block of Ross Avenue, saying that someone was shooting down the street and his house had been hit.

The window of the front door had been shot out, police said.

People at the Ross Avenue house told officers they had heard several shots, and that someone shot at a car heading north on Coal Street. Officers were told the shots appeared to come from the apartment building in the 800 block of Coal Street.

Police spoke with residents of the building and checked the area of Coal Street and Ross Avenue for bullet casings, but found nothing. It was shortly before 11:30 a.m. when police were told that a gunshot victim related to the incident had entered UPMC Mercy.

The victim’s girlfriend, who lives in the apartment building, told police that he had locked himself out after going to the store. When he went around back to ask her to throw a key out, a woman from inside an apartment yelled at him to get off of her rug.

After the victim apologized, she told police that’s when Daniels came out and started an argument over the rug. She came out to get him, and they left in her car.

Police said the woman told them that when she heard the shots, she looked back and saw the man she knew as Gerald standing to the side of the apartment shooting up the street at them.

Police said the shooting victim told them the same story, and that he didn’t have any previous issues with Daniels, who he did not know by name.

Police got Daniels’ full name from the landlord, and were told that Daniels was there. When police went to the building, officers saw Daniels trying to flee out the back. He was arrested without incident.

Wilkinsburg police charged Daniels with two counts of aggravated assault, one count of discharging a firearm into an occupied structure, four counts of reckless endangerment, and disorderly conduct. He was arraigned early Sunday morning and sent to the Allegheny County Jail after failing to post $25,000 bail.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 22.