Lawrenceville shooting leads to discovery of marijuana growing operation inside home

PITTSBURGH — Inside 5233 1/2 Keystone St. in Lawrenceville lived a couple and their kids. Neighbors say they seemed pretty nice, but on Friday afternoon, the husband shot at his wife and her friend as they ran for safety.

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Police say it was what they found inside the home that was even more bizarre, a marijuana-growing operation, that left this street with a lot of questions.

“I don’t know what went on in there, but they took a lot of evidence out of there,” said neighbor Barbara Helbling.

Helbling said she’s lived on Keystone Street for about 20 years and has gotten to know all her neighbors pretty well. She said she was shocked when she heard the news.

“She was wonderful, the kids were so polite, and he would always work on his truck and I’d say ‘hi,’” Helbling said.

But behind closed doors, things may not have been so pleasant.

According to the criminal complaint, the couple married for nine years had split in July, and the wife left with the kids.

“I never heard them argue, but behind the house, I heard they used to argue a lot,” Helbling said.

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According to police on Friday, the wife along with a friend returned to the home to collect some belongings. That’s when husband Billy Potts said he heard rumblings, ran out, and shot at them three times, hitting the friend in her arm.

Potts told police he was unaware that it was his wife. Police said they found Potts with the gun in his possession, but added that what they found inside the home was also a concern — a tent standing 10 feet tall with lights, vents and weed growing inside.

“That’s a shame, I mean why? Can’t you make money by getting a job?,” Helbling said.

She is still making sense of it all and hopes at least for the children, everyone is safe.

“I hope she is safe, and I’ll miss them,” Helbling said.

Potts, who is currently in custody, now faces several felonies including attempted criminal homicide. The injured woman made it to Children’s Hospital where she was treated for a gunshot wound to the arm.

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