RANKIN, Pa. — Police and medics were called Tuesday morning to the scene of a shooting at an apartment in Rankin’s Hawkins Village housing complex.
reported that investigators stopped a woman a short time later on Hawthorne Avenue in Swissvale. She told police that she had just shot someone in self-defense in Rankin.
Police said a 5-year-old child was in the car with the woman, and they also recovered a gun.
The woman, identified as Jaquet Pope-Esposito, 26, of Swissvale, was taken into police custody and later charged with one count of aggravated assault and four counts of recklessly endangering another person.
According to police, the incident began as a verbal fight between Pope-Esposito and her cousin, 25-year-old Danielle Ferguson, in Hawkins Village. It turned physical, and Ferguson was shot in her left thigh, police said. She was taken to a hospital, where she was listed in serious but stable condition, authorities said.
"She lost a lot of blood," Rankin police Chief Ryan Wooten said.
Police said a newborn and 1-year-old were inside the Ferguson’s apartment at the time of the shooting. The women have had an ongoing feud, officials said.
“I hear them arguing, fighting in the living room. I tried to break it up,” Ferguson’s friend, who did not want to be identified, told Channel 11 News on Wednesday.
She said she was at the apartment when Pope-Esposito got into an argument with Ferguson over being left alone one night when they went out together.
“The girl left Dani somewhere when they went out, and it was just weird. She left Dani in the middle of the night and left Dani in her car. She didn’t have the decency to drop her off,” the woman said.
She said the argument quickly turned violent, with the pair fighting on the living room floor. The woman said at that point, Pope-Esposito pulled out a gun and shot her friend.
“You are pulling out guns, and there are kids here. There is a 1-year-old and a two-month-old. It was just crazy,” the woman said.
Pope-Esposito was taken to Allegheny County Jail, where she will be arraigned on her charges.
Violence in Hawkins Village is not uncommon. Eight days ago,
, whose body was found in a wooded area near the Hawkins Village complex.
“Along with Housing Authority, we are beefing up security. But I think we need to become more personal with our residents down here to see if we can be here in a different capacity other than a police officer,” Rankin Police Chief Ryan Wooten told Channel 11 News.
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