Two 16-year-old boys were arrested overnight after a girl was hospitalized in critical condition following a shooting Monday afternoon in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood.
Raymur Sicklesmith of Homewood and James Acklin of Duquesne are charged as adults with attempted homicide, reckless endangerment and related offenses.
Police said they were dispatched around 3 p.m. for a ShotSpotter alert that indicated four shots were fired in the area of Frankstown and North Lang avenues. They found a girl with a gunshot wound to her abdomen. She was taken to a hospital by Pittsburgh EMS.
Witnesses told authorities that the shooting stemmed from a fight between females. A girl told Acklin and Sicklesmith that she had been beaten up nearby when Acklin told Sicklesmith to retrieve “the toy,” according to court papers.
The witness said Sicklesmith went inside the apartment where he lives and, when he came back, he and Acklin headed toward the area where the girl said she had been involved in a fight. While they were walking, the witness reported hearing Acklin talking to Sicklesmith about shooting people at their destination, according to court papers.
Three other witnesses told police Sicklesmith was the one firing a revolver.
Sicklesmith and Acklin were arraigned overnight and were being held without bail. They did not have attorneys listed in online court records. Preliminary hearings are scheduled for Dec. 21.
The shooting came days after Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey criticized gun violence in the city following the fatal shooting of 4-year-old Kaari Thompson in Lincoln-Lemington. He called for witnesses and residents to cooperate with police to make arrests in gun violence cases and encouraged community groups to help spread peace.
