5 stabbed inside Pittsburgh-area mental health facility; charges against suspect pending

PITTSBURGH — A man accused of stabbing five people inside a Pittsburgh-area mental health facility Friday afternoon was shot by SWAT officers and taken to a hospital to undergo surgery, Allegheny County police said.

Authorities went to the Turtle Creek Valley Behavioral Health Services facility on the Homestead-Munhall border around 2 p.m. after receiving a 911 call about a reported stabbing.

• RAW VIDEO: Heavy police presence at Homestead mental health facility
• PHOTOS: SWAT situation at Homestead mental health facility (11/11/16)
• VIDEO: Suspect's former roommate came face-to-face with suspect before stabbing

Police said the suspect, who was identified as 38-year-old Dustin Johnson, took a publicly accessible elevator to the fifth floor of the building, where offices are located. He exited the elevator, staff immediately recognized him and he began to attack, investigators said.

“The elevator to the offices is accessible to the public,” Allegheny County police Superintendent Coleman McDonough said. “He began to assault staff almost immediately.”

Officials said Johnson was armed with knives and a BB gun, which had a flashlight mounted to it, lacked any markings and looked like a handgun.

According to a criminal complaint, two knives were found next to Johnson at the scene and two more were discovered amongst his belongings. It was also discovered that Johnson “poured some type of accelerant on the elevator floor in the building.”

Injured victims were seen being taken out on stretchers and loaded into ambulances at 3:20 p.m. Police said they were taken to four hospitals.

Police released the following information Friday night regarding the victims’ and Johnson’s conditions.

• Victim one, a resident, underwent surgery for stab wounds to the neck and is listed in critical condition.
• Victim two, a resident, is recovering from stab wounds to the neck and upper chest and is listed in stable condition.
• Victim three, an employee, underwent surgery for stab wounds to the head and neck and is in stable condition.
• Victim four, an employee, received two stab wounds to the back and is in stable condition.
• Victim five, an employee, received stab wounds to the face and neck and is in stable condition.

Two other people were transported to local hospitals following the incident, but did not sustain any physical injuries at the hands of Johnson.

Suspect: Dustin Johnson (July 2013)

Johnson underwent surgery for multiple gunshot wounds and is recovering in the intensive care unit. Police said they are preparing affidavits to charge Johnson with various offenses, including five counts of aggravated assault, five counts of attempted homicide, attempted arson and risking a catastrophe.

Police said they had received reports of multiple people stabbed, so Homestead officers entered the facility and saw Johnson at the end of the hall, holding a knife and what appeared to be a firearm. They negotiated with him, and he dropped a knife, but still held the perceived handgun, authorities said.

Officials said the Allegheny County SWAT team was then called and took over the situation, at which point more 911 calls had been received from people inside the building saying that victims were in danger of bleeding out.

"At the same time, 911 is receiving telephone calls from the stabbing victims, office staff and some of the victims' families that some of them were bleeding and some of them were on the verge of bleeding out," said McDonough.

County police said Johnson continued to ignore commands and held onto the gun after SWAT officers arrived. At 3:13 p.m., three SWAT officers engaged Johnson, shooting him, officials said. He was taken to a hospital, where he was undergoing surgery, authorities said. His condition was not immediately known.

Pursuant to standard protocol, all three officers will be placed on administrative duty until a review of the incident is complete and the district attorney is consulted, county police said.

A man who identified himself as Johnson's former roommate at the facility said Johnson told him, "Get out of here. I'm not going to hurt you." The man said Johnson then stabbed another person. The man said he went down the elevator and called 911.

Cherrill Fulton, who works at the facility as a resident adviser, said Johnson received treatment at the facility, but she hadn't seen him in about two months.

Fulton said Johnson acted strangely, then pulled out what she thought was a gun. He told her to sit down and said he wasn't going to hurt her.

“I said, 'Are you OK?’ and then he said, ‘Yeah.’ That's when he pulled the gun. It happened in five seconds," Fulton said.

She said she hid under a desk, so she couldn't see what was happening, but she heard people screaming and heard him say, "You ruined my life."  Fulton said she was on the phone with a relative and told them to call 911.

"It was terrifying,” Fulton said. “I didn't know what was going to happen."

She said she has no idea what may have motivated the attack. She said the facility does not have a metal detector, but she now believes it should, and she's afraid to go back to work.

Channel 11 found that in 2007, Johnson pleaded guilty to misdemeanor terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another and misdemeanor harassment. In 2010, he also pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct/engage in fighting citation.

According to its website, Turtle Creek Valley Mental Health offers "a full continuum of mental health, intellectual developmental disabilities and alcohol and other drug treatment programs." Services include adult drug and alcohol treatment; adult mental health treatment; services for people with intellectual developmental disabilities; and children and adolescent behavioral health care.

Two schools in the area, Barrett Elementary School and Propel Schools Homestead, were briefly placed on lockdown as the SWAT team worked to take Johnson into custody.

Cox Media Group