Separate Pittsburgh-area shootings leave 1 dead, 2 injured

UNIONTOWN, Pa. (KDKA) – Police are investigating two separate shootings in Uniontown on Tuesday.

The Uniontown Police Department said a man was shot and killed on a sidewalk in front of a home on Dunlap Street around 2 p.m. Tuesday. He was identified as 33-year-old Josh Stevens.

Witnesses told Fayette County Prosecutor Michael Aubele that Stevens threatened to stab the suspect before the shooting. Aubele told KDKA-TV's Jennifer Borasso that there had been some disagreement before the shooting. Police said they were searching for the shooter, who they said fled the scene.

“This was not a random act of violence,” Aubele said. “They were two people who knew each other.”

“What we understand is that the victim attacked the defendant with a knife and apparently the defendant shot him,” he added.

Uniontown police said the man who was killed resided in the home where he was shot and had been arguing with people who live nearby.

Second shooting of the day in Uniontown

Authorities said when officers were on scene on Dunlap Street, a man in a vehicle was shot in the hip on Varndell Street around 3:30 p.m. Another person in the vehicle was injured by shrapnel, authorities said.

Aubele said at least a dozen shots were fired. Both victims were transported to a local hospital and are expected to survive.

Vanessa Osler heard the second shooting from her home.

“I was shaking,” Osler said. “I was scared and was going to go into the house and lay down on the floor.”

It is unclear whether the two shootings are related. No arrests have been made.

The shooting on Varndell Street happened less than a mile from the scene of the first shooting.

Uniontown police are investigating the first shooting, while Pennsylvania State Police are handling the second shooting.

So far in 2024, there have been eight homicides in Fayette County.