The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office has identified the suspect killed in a shootout with police as Elijah Jamaal Brewer, 25, of Pittsburgh.
A Pittsburgh police detective was shot in the leg during a traffic stop on East Ohio Street in the city’s North Side just before 7 p.m. Thursday night, police say.
“Fortunately, he is going to make it,” Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich told reporters at about 9 p.m.
.@PghPublicSafety’s Wendell Hissrich:
• Suspect is dead. Officials won’t yet release man’s name/residence, nor if he was shot by injured officer
• Witnesses saw police swarm nearby cellphone store, unclear if connected
• @PghPoliceChief & @billpeduto now talking to shot cop pic.twitter.com/bWAhq17YyZ— Natasha Lindstrom (@NewsNatasha) March 6, 2020
Brewer was fatally shot during the incident at East Ohio Street and Madison Avenue, near the ramps to northbound Interstate 279 and Route 28.
Four detectives stopped the vehicle, which was carrying a driver and Brewer, according to Allegheny County Police, who are investigating the shooting.
“After initial contact with the occupants of the vehicle, there was an exchange of gunfire between the four detectives and the sole passenger,” county police said in a statement. “During the exchange, the passenger and a (Pittsburgh Bureau of Police) detective were struck by gunfire.”
It’s unclear if Brewer was shot by the wounded detective.
The driver of the vehicle fled during the shooting. The driver was captured and detained, but is not currently in custody, county police said.
Brewer was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:41 p.m.
The officer was alert enough to talk to Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and police Chief Scott Schubert, who joined his family at his bedside at the nearby Allegheny General Hospital.
More than a dozen police swarmed and blocked off a portion of the East Ohio Street between Madison Avenue and Chestnut Street near the ramps to Route 28 northbound and the 16th Street Bridge for more than four hours.
A Pittsburgh Crime Scene Unit truck pulled up to the taped-off area at about 8 p.m.
Officials urged people to avoid the area while they investigated and collected evidence.
ALERT: Avoid East Ohio Street. A @PghPolice officer was shot, as was a shooting suspect. Officer in stable condition. More details to come but please avoid area as traffic is being affected by road closures. pic.twitter.com/fIEyW6at8D
— Pgh Public Safety (@PghPublicSafety) March 6, 2020
County police are looking for witnesses and surveillance video to get more information about the shooting. The involved detectives were not wearing body cameras.
