Social media threat toward Pittsburgh school leads to 2 arrests, 4 guns recovered

PITTSBURGH — A social media threat toward Pittsburgh Milliones University Preparatory School led to two arrests and four guns, ammunition, magazines and a Glock switch being recovered.

Channel 11′s Alyssa Raymond is looking into how one of the teenagers involved in this may be connected to the school being put on lockdown a few weeks ago.

“We believe their intentions were evil,” said Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Chief Larry Scirotto.

Chief Larry Scirotto believes a potential school shooting was stopped.

“This is what we talk about when we say, see something say something,” said Scirotto.

A few weeks ago, a teacher saw social media posts showing guns and said something. Those posts lead detectives to a house in the Hill District. From there, they conducted two different traffic stops and found four guns, ammunition and marijuana. Pittsburgh police arrested 18-year-old Jackiel Young and a 17-year-old, who is a former PPS Student. They believe the 17-year-old might be the same person who was spotted with a gun outside Pittsburgh Milliones on Nov. 20.

“Fairly certain that it was him, which is what furthered the investigation,” said Scirotto.

Pittsburgh police believe say the whole community is working together on this. Scirotto says a potential school shooting was prevented because of the collaboration between Pittsburgh Police, Pittsburgh Public Schools and the ATF.

“What their end game was is still unknown as this point as we continue this investigation,” said Scirotto. “As with any case, it doesn’t stop with the arrest. There are layers to this that we as the bureau will continue to follow to assure, we’re holding everyone accountable. Even to where they purchased the firearms.”

Young is in the Allegheny County Jail, but after Pittsburgh police arrested the 17-year-old, they released him to a family member.

“Without a detention center, without available beds,” said Scirotto.  “We know that this juvenile is a serious threat to the health and wellbeing of every member of our community and yet we cannot place them in a facility to mitigate that harm.”

Scirotto says the 17-year-old will not be charged as an adult because there was no crime of violence.

Mayor Ed Gainey released a statement in response to this investigation.

“”Pittsburgh, our dedicated officers, through collaboration with the ATF and PPS officers, were able to interrupt what could have been a major act of violence near one of our schools. This is the second time this year that our officers, through their proactive policing and community partnership, have been able to keep our city and our kids safe at school. Please join me in thanking them for their dedication and determination in keeping us safe. This serves as a reminder that we all have a role to play in making Pittsburgh the safest city in America, remember if you see something, reach out and say something – we have the ability to save lives by speaking up.”

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