DA Zappala discusses solution to teen violence in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH — Police filled Market Square Wednesday night as chaos unfolded. Police told Channel 11 that a juvenile pulled a knife and now criminal charges are pending.

“It’s going to get worse with the summer,” said DA Stephen Zappala.

Strong words from Zappala as he said conversations are happening every day on policing the city center.

“We decided it was ground zero the last time we tried in a coordinated way all the governments got together to impact downtown and the region to have a renaissance,” Zappala said.

This comes 10 days after another fight where nearly two dozen juveniles attacked a man and just months after several teens violently attacked a homeless man all in Market Square.

“It concerns the businesspeople down there. I don’t think they care if it’s younger people older people or homeless people. It’s not a crime to be homeless but these are business people. They are the heart of our community. We have to back them,” Zappala said.

But Zappala said conversations only go so far when not all parties are coming to the table.

“I got a big hole in that relationship now meaning the city of Pittsburgh and I don’t know how that’s fixed that’s politics, that’s diplomacy,” Zappala said.

We did reach out to the city for their response on this effort but have not heard back.

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