Man critically injured after assault in Pittsburgh

A man was critically injured after being assaulted by a group of people in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood on Thursday evening, authorities said. 

Pittsburgh Public Safety said officers were called to South St. Clair and Eva streets around 5 p.m. for reports of a man who was assaulted by a group of people. The assault happened next to a Whole Foods store. 

At the scene, which bordered a park with a playground, first responders found a man who was unconscious and not breathing. Officers and medics performed CPR on the man until he was taken to a local hospital in critical condition. The exact nature of his injuries was not released. 

Pittsburgh Public Safety said “several males of unknown age” were detained and transported to police headquarters for questioning. It was not immediately known if any of them would be charged. 

A KDKA-TV crew observed a second police scene nearby on Centre Avenue next to The Fresh Market, which was previously a Whole Foods. At that scene, KDKA-TV observed what appeared to be at least one teenager being taken into a police car. A witness told KDKA-TV they saw police questioning nearly 10 people, ranging from grade schoolers to teenagers. 

Pittsburgh Public Safety did not say what led up to the assault.

“Those kids, whoever they were, need to be reprimanded for that, because that was horrible, horrible,” said Asia Wilter, who was nearby on Thursday evening.

Over the weekend, another man was assaulted outside a 7-Eleven store on Penn Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh. Police say the assault started inside the 7-Eleven after the victim mentioned to an employee that he believed a group of teenage males was shoplifting.

Pittsburgh police say the victim scraped his elbow and had a small abrasion on his face. He refused to be transported to the hospital, but police say he went on his own to get checked out. Police are searching for the teens. 

Earlier this month, six teenage girls were charged after authorities said they chased a woman into a Sephora store in East Liberty and beat her. Sephora’s loss prevention officer estimated the teens caused approximately $30,000 in damage.