Pittsburgh police respond to shoplifting incident, find out the man is a suspect in Texas homicide case

A man who Pittsburgh police were investigating for an alleged shoplifting incident was found to be a homicide suspect from Texas, according to the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office.

Joseph C. Tedder, 22, of Hutchinson, Kansas, was arrested Wednesday without incident.

Pittsburgh police were called to the Family Dollar in the city’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood around 7:30 p.m. A caller told officers the store was planning to fire an employee accused of shoplifting, who they identified as Tedder. They were requesting assistance to ensure the firing took place without any issues.

At the scene, police learned that Tedder fled when he saw officers coming.

During a brief investigation, police found that Tedder has been wanted out of Texas since early November in connection with an alleged homicide. According to the sheriff’s report, Tedder and two other men had gone to an apartment in Texas planning to sell illicit drugs. The two men, who were not identified, stayed in the car while Tedder went in to make the sale.

Shortly after Tedder entered the building, gunshots were heard, officials said. The men went to see what happened and found another man believed to be dead in the stairwell.

Following the investigation, Pittsburgh police contacted the sheriff’s office for assistance in apprehending Tedder.

Deputies around 10 p.m. located a vehicle in the 3300 block of Brighton Road in Brighton Heights that Tedder has been seen in on multiple occasions.

Deputies made entry into a home where they believed Tedder was staying with a man believed to be his brother.

Tedder was arrested and taken to the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh on the warrant from Texas. He was awaiting arraignment late Wednesday on charges from the alleged shoplifting incident and fugitive charges for allegedly fleeing Texas.