An argument over pizza led to the weekend shooting on Pittsburgh’s South Side that left a man in critical condition, according to charges filed in the case.
Rafik White, 22, is charged with attempted homicide in the shooting, which happened shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday. Police said they responded to a ShotSpotter alert and found a man with gunshot wounds to his chest.
Four friends who were with the man said they had been walking on South 13th Street toward Bingham Street with some pizza when two men, one of whom was later identified as White, asked them for some pizza, according to the complaint.
The men, who were sitting on a burgundy Ford F-150, followed the group after they declined to hand over any pizza, the witnesses told police. An argument followed, and White allegedly pulled out and gun and shot the victim, according to the complaint.
Investigators also obtained footage captured by a nearby vehicle’s dashboard camera, police said.
About a half-hour after the shooting, two men approached the Ford, according to the complaint. Identified only as Witness 5 and Witness 6, the former denied knowing the identity of the shooter and the latter said he knew the man as “Fleek” or a similar sounding name. Witness 5, according to the complaint, was the man who followed the group with the pizza.
Witness 6 allowed investigators to search his phone and his Facebook account for friends who went by “Fleek” or a similar name, according to the complaint. While detectives had his phone, it received Snapchat notifications. Detectives checked the witness’s Snapchat account and found someone with a username that included the name “Fikey.”
Using Snapchat and Facebook, detectives worked backward to identify the alleged shooter as White, according to the complaint.
In addition to attempted homicide, White is charged with aggravated assault. He was arrested by Pittsburgh police on Wednesday, and he is awaiting preliminary arraignment. No attorney was listed for White as of Wednesday afternoon.
