Pittsburgh man charged with mid-December shooting at Waterworks mall
A Pittsburgh man has been charged in a Dec. 14 shooting that caused panic at The Waterworks mall and damaged an occupied car parked outside Walmart.
John Hayden, 21, is charged by Pittsburgh police with aggravated assault, propulsion of missiles, criminal mischief, a firearms violation and two counts each of endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person.
According to court documents, Hayden, who lives in the city’s BonAir neighborhood, admitted to investigators that he fired three shots at a man in the Walmart parking lot after getting into an altercation with him inside the store.
Police said they pieced together the events at the mall near Aspinwall through eyewitness accounts and surveillance footage.
According to police, Hayden and the man he is charged with shooting at were involved that evening in an altercation during a verbal exchange between two groups of people at the front of Walmart.
Related
• Shots fired outside Walmart in The Waterworks mall, police looking for 4 suspects
Referring to surveillance images, police said the man who was engaged in the altercation with Hayden and another male were in the parking lot shortly before 5:30 p.m., near a parked car, when the one man “frantically bends down as he ducks” and the other male “jumps as if he is seeking cover.”
A man who was seated inside the car escaped injury, but police said they recovered one fired bullet and two bullet fragments from the vehicle — which received four bullet strikes to its driver’s side.
Police said they determined by the angle of the bullet holes that the shots had been fired from the vicinity of a Ford Fusion driven by Hayden. Police said Morgan Lesko, 24, and two infants also were in the car.
According to court documents, police linked Hayden and Lesko to the Fusion through social media posts and their previous criminal histories. They served a search warrant Dec. 23 at their home in Pittsburgh.
Police said Hayden wasn’t allowed to possess or use a firearm because he’d been found delinquent for a robbery, and Lesko has had her concealed carry permit revoked.
Lesko was charged Aug. 26 with prohibited possession of a firearm in Mt. Oliver, according to court documents. She is awaiting a nonjury trial in that incident.
Hayden was lodged in the Allegheny County Jail after failing to post $15,000 bail. He faces a Feb. 9 hearing in Pittsburgh Municipal Court.
Jeff Himler is a TribLive reporter covering Greater Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant Area and Derry Area school districts and their communities. He also reports on transportation issues. A journalist for more than three decades, he enjoys delving into local history. He can be reached at jhimler@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.