Pittsburg, PA
Gun used at Pittsburgh crime scene traced back to New Jersey police, part of alarming trend for former service weapons
When a police department upgrades its guns, what happens to the old ones? A CBS News investigation found tens of thousands of these former service weapons land at crime scenes across the country.
In a 16-year period ending in 2022, the ATF identified more than 52,000 guns recovered from crime scenes that were once used by police agencies. It took a federal court order for the ATF to release that data.
In one case, serial numbers obtained from police mapped a weapon’s path from Newark, New Jersey, through New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, and ultimately to a crime scene in Pittsburgh.
Shots fired in Pittsburgh
On July 14, 2019, 12 shots were fired in the Northview Heights neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Police searched the area and didn’t find anyone shot, but they did find the gun, ditched near Hazlett Street.
An officer wrote that the gun had “numerous scrapes … consistent with it being thrown and sliding across cement,” leading police to believe the person who fired the shots tossed it as they ran away.
According to Pittsburgh Police, the gun was not reported stolen, but they also couldn’t find any record of the current owner. An ATF gun tracing report obtained by CBS shows the gun’s serial number was traced back to the Newark Police Department.
Newark police traded-in guns
Newark Police have proudly taken guns off the street for years through gun buybacks. But at the same time they have inadvertently put their own weapons back in circulation.
The Newark Police Department confirmed that they traded-in about a thousand guns in 2016 and 2017 to a firearms dealer, in exchange for discounts on new guns. That dealer then resells the weapons.
“It makes me feel that money is more important to you than mankind,” said Newark-based anti-violence activist Pastor Jethro James. “Melt it down and make something useful out of it.”
“I don’t blame this mayor because it didn’t start with this mayor,” James said. “However, this is your time to try; step up to the plate and take your swings. You tried and because of your trying, maybe somebody is not dying, somebody’s kid is not dying.”
Many police departments trade-in weapons
Newark Police tell CBS News they have not traded-in guns in years, but they would not say whether they will do it again when it’s time to upgrade.
In partnership with the nonprofit newsrooms The Trace and Reveal, CBS News surveyed 200 police agencies nationwide and found a majority sell their guns when they decide to upgrade their arsenal.
Police in Monroe, New York, trade-in old weapons. Police in Yonkers, New York, trade-in to a vendor that does not sell to the public. In New York City, officers are the legal owners of their guns. When upgrading, they can keep the old weapon for personal use, or sell it.
“I’m not going to penalize or say that’s wrong in any way,” said retired ATF New York Special Agent in Charge John DeVito. “I think we should have satisfactory budgets so these departments and chiefs don’t have to make hard decisions — ‘We have to trade-in these guns, we have sell these guns, in order to equip my officers.’ That’s not a decision a chief should be having to make.”
According to DeVito, ATF agents can trace a gun from one firearms dealer to another, but they can’t see which citizens might later buy them.
Tracing the gun from New Jersey to Pennsylvania
The gun used in the 2019 Pittsburgh incident was sold by Newark police to a company called Atlantic Tactical, according to documents obtained by CBS News.
Atlantic Tactical’s website says their corporate headquarters is in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. However, CBS News found the building for sale and an online announcement said the company sold to Florida-based Safariland in 2015.
That same year, Atlantic Tactical stopped selling guns to the general public, according to their website. They now only sell to current and retired public safety personnel.
No one at the retail store in New Cumberland would do an interview and Safariland did not respond to requests for comment.
Police perspective
“It’s more common for police agencies to do things like buybacks where their objective is to get guns off the street,” said Robert Bradshaw, a crisis management consultant in New Cumberland who works with police departments.
“In my experience, that’s probably where most of the law enforcement officers that I know — that’s how they feel. They feel there’s too many guns on the street already.”
Bradshaw also helped write the fictional book “American Roulette” about the impact of a mass shooting on an American town. The characters he created are police officers, “to highlight the fact that police officers themselves become victims of these events. They become traumatized by it. They’re changed forever.”
An unclear path to Pittsburgh
How a gun sold by Newark Police to Atlantic Tactical landed on the streets of Northview Heights in 2019 is unclear.
In a statement to CBS News, an ATF spokesperson said, “there are a few different scenarios that could have occurred. Given the range of options and not wanting to imply something incorrect, we cannot speculate on what may have led to this particular report.”
“This sounds like it’s part and parcel of a system that is setup with so many holes in it to allow guns to get into the wrong hands,” said Josh Fleitman, the campaign director for CeaseFirePA.
Fleitman said this incident is just one example of why new gun policies should be considered.
However, a Pittsburgh area gun shop owner said he and other owners cannot just sell to anyone and face restrictions.
“We have to ask, ‘mother may I sell this gun?’ to our federal government, and they have to give us an approval number to be able to transfer that item. And then we have to have records of who bought it,” outlined Bruce Piendl, the owner of Allegheny Arms and Gun Works.
As for the gun that traveled from Newark to Northview Heights, Pittsburgh Police never did find its owner and eventually destroyed it in 2021.
A puppy is being cared for by the Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh in Homewood after police said his owner zipped him inside a suitcase on Christmas Day.
When you see him, you would never know how his little life got started. The little white dog loves to play and has quickly become a favorite at HARP.
However, nearly two weeks ago, Pittsburgh police said his owner, 56-year-old Jayme White, zipped him inside a suitcase she was carrying on Christmas Day. They said a witness told them she was yelling at the dog and hit it several times before putting it in the bag.
Now White is facing several charges, including animal neglect and public drunkenness.
HARP executive director Dan Cody said animal control brought them the puppy the next morning.
“When the dog arrived, he was in relatively good condition, given the circumstances,” Cody said.
They couldn’t find any signs of physical abuse.
“He was a little bit shy, but he very quickly warmed up,” Cody said.
They believe he’s about two and a half months old now, and expect he’ll be a large breed. Most importantly, they said he’s completely healthy.
“He’s just so energetic and loving,” Cody said.
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office told KDKA that White has surrendered custody of the animal to the rescue, so once he’s neutered, microchipped and vaccinated, he should be up for adoption in the coming days.
“We’ll find a great home for him,” Cody said.
While the circumstances remain unclear, Cody hopes this case serves as a reminder that owning a pet comes with a great responsibility.
“If you do know someone who is struggling or needs help, we are a place where you can come for resources,” Cody said.
White is now out of jail after a judge ruled she get a mental health evaluation. Her preliminary hearing is set for April.
Light rain is expected to arrive in the Pittsburgh area this afternoon with the best chance for rain coming later in the week.
Any Alert Days Ahead? No
Aware: Snow continues to melt, with yesterday’s snow depth measuring 2″ still. Thursday will be a good day for most to ‘clean the yard’.
Snow continues to slowly melt off. Today should be a big day with light rain and warm temperatures helping to bring snow depth totals in Pittsburgh down from yesterday’s 2″ down to an inch or less by Wednesday morning. By Wednesday evening, most of the snow will be off the ground, with exceptions for shaded areas.
If you have dogs, Thursday is going to be the best time to get outside to ‘clean the yard’. Our best chance for rain this week comes Friday through Saturday, with rain and some rumbles expected.
For today, rain chances arrive right at noon and stick around through 7 a.m. on Wednesday. Rain totals will not be very impressive. I am only expecting five hundredths of an inch or less for most places. The best chance for rain will probably occur around 7 p.m this evening through around 10 p.m. A lot of your afternoon will be dry.
When it comes to temperatures, morning lows dipped to the low 30s this morning and highs today should be around 50 degrees. Yesterday’s high of 47 degrees was a good four degrees warmer than what I forecast for our daily high. It felt amazing outside. We will see more ‘mild’ weather this week with highs in the mid-40s on Wednesday behind the rain. Thursday highs should hit the mid-50s. I still have Friday highs near 60 degrees.
Before wrapping things up, I do want to quickly talk about Sunday morning’s weather with rain, snow, & sleet all expected over just a couple of hours. Travel in some spots will be slowed with the rapid drop in temperatures, slick conditions, and windy conditions. At this point, the usual suspects of the Ridges, Laurel Highlands, places north of I-80, and the snowbelt of Armstrong and Indiana counties will be most impacted. We will continue to have more on timing and what to expect for the rest of the week, but at least for now, I wanted to give an early warning about what is heading our way.
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In his inaugural address, Mayor Corey O’Connor promised to pull Pittsburgh out of financial troubles and turn the city around.
He says he’ll make tough decisions to cut costs, improve services and strengthen public safety by rebuilding the Pittsburgh police force. And he says he won’t manage decline but push for growth with new development Downtown and in the neighborhoods.
He says he wants Pittsburgh to believe in itself again.
“Our city has become a culture of we can’t, we won’t — a culture of no,” O’Connor said. “Now, it’s time to change Pittsburgh’s culture, both how we feel about ourselves and how the world sees us. It’s time to become a city of hope and optimism where your dreams can come true. A Pittsburgh where each and every time we can, we get to yes.”
O’Connor says he and his administration are set to hit the ground running, meaning you won’t be seeing him much at city hall.
“I don’t like sitting behind the desk. The mayor’s job shouldn’t be behind the desk eight hours a day. It needs to be out in the community, hearing from people about what they want to see in Pittsburgh,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor already has plans of his own to address the city’s financial crisis and turn Pittsburgh around. With a failing fleet, understaffing and runaway overtime coupled with Downtown building assessments in free fall, he believes you can’t continue to raise taxes and manage decline. Instead, he will push a decidedly pro-growth agenda, incentivizing the building of new housing and converting Downtown offices to residential.
“Making sure that we come out strong with our growth plan,” O’Connor said. “Can we have a Downtown fund that helps bridge these gaps so that some of these buildings happen a lot quicker? Can we streamline permitting? We hear about permitting from everyone.”
As mayor, he says he’ll unveil a plan to revitalize the neighborhoods by encouraging small businesses to take over empty storefronts. And, he has already reached out to the city’s major nonprofits to help with payments in lieu of taxes.
“Word is that you already have some sort of rough agreement with UPMC to buy ambulances?” KDKA-TV’s Andy Sheehan asked.
“I can’t say for certain that everything is done,” O’Connor said. “We’ve met with the nonprofits to have those detailed conversations. What can they do to benefit the city?”
Before COVID, Pittsburgh had become the darling of the national and international press as a city on the move that had transformed itself, rising from the ashes of the steel industry. O’Connor says he wants Pittsburgh to get its mojo back.
“As the mayor, you have to be the biggest cheerleader of this city and this region, calling companies all over the country and the world and say, ‘have you thought about Pittsburgh?’” O’Connor said.
And he says there will be no greater chance to jumpstart the city than to take advantage of the upcoming NFL draft.
“If we get more people seeing Pittsburgh, and there’s going to be 50 million eyes on us that week, now we get a chance to tell our story. And I think that helps us turn the tide and believing in Pittsburgh again and putting us on the national stage.”
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