Police seek 2 suspects in Jeannette shooting that left 1 dead, 4 hospitalized
A 25-year-old Jeannette woman planning to find a better life in a rural setting outside of Uniontown was fatally shot Friday night at her friend’s residence in Jeannette and at least four others were wounded, authorities and family said.
The victim, Brianna Lartz, was shot shortly before 9:30 p.m. at a residence at 815 Lowry Ave., where she was visiting a friend, according to the victim’s mother, Bruna Vesco Leonard of Greensburg.
Four other people were wounded in the shooting. Three were transported to Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, according to a Westmoreland County Public Safety supervisor. Another arrived later at AHN Hempfield and was airlifted to a Pittsburgh hospital.
Their identities and conditions were not available Saturday afternoon, but authorities said they are expected to survive.
Those who were wounded were found outside the house, in the front and the rear of the building, according to eyewitnesses. A woman who did not wish to be identified said she was driving on Lowry Avenue when she saw a man who had been shot lying on an SUV parked in front of 815 Lowry Ave.. It is adjacent to Neighbors Tavern.
2 suspects now sought
Police issued a bulletin about 1 a.m. Saturday for information seeking Deshawn Russell, 25, a suspect in the shootings who was believed to have had a child with him.
On Saturday afternoon, Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli released a statement saying a second suspect also is being sought.
Russell is described as being 5 foot, 10 inches tall, weighing around 170 pounds, with his hair in long dreadlocks. Police said early Saturday that Russell — whom police consider armed and dangerous — fled the scene in a light green 2012 Ford Escape.
Russell was believed to have had a 3-year-old child with him, who is the son he shared with Lartz , according to Leonard and state police. Russell’s last known address, according to court records, was in Braddock last November.
State police considered the boy to be a “missing, endangered person.”
However, at about 3:30 a.m., police sent out an alert that the boy was found safe, reportedly with a grandmother in Wilkinsburg.
Ziccarelli did not release a name or description of the second suspect but said he, too, is considered to be armed and dangerous.
Both men frequent the Wilkinsburg, Braddock and Uniontown areas, the DA said.
Lartz, who lived on St. Clair Street in Jeannette, was at her friend’s house waiting for Russell to bring the child to her when she was shot, according to Leonard.
Jeannette police had not released any information about the shootings as of Saturday afternoon.
Westmoreland County Chief Detective Ron Zona said at 3 a.m. that police were in the process of obtaining a search warrant to enter the house.
He confirmed that four were wounded. He said authorities continued to investigate the circumstances.
Zona said at the time there was the possibility of more than one gunman.
The shootings brought a heavy presence by Jeannette police, state police and Westmoreland County detectives to Lowry Avenue, a main thoroughfare between Route 30 and downtown Jeannette. Police were still at the scene at 3 a.m.
Leonard said her daughter, a graduate of Greater Latrobe High School, was “trying to get a better life, to get out of Jeannette” and live in a house in the country outside Uniontown with her two children. Leonard said she was watching her older grandson Friday night. Lartz’s father, Lester Frye, who drove to the scene from his home in Uniontown, declined to comment.
Leonard said her daughter had plans to support her family by opening a landscaping business and a home cleaning business.
“Her kids were everything to her. What will they do without their mom?” Leonard said before crying and hugging her husband, Joe Leonard.
Westmoreland County Coroner Timothy Carson released a statement that said the cause and manner of Lartz’s death is pending final autopsy and toxicology results. Jeannette police and the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office are investigating the incident.
Anyone with information about the shooting can contact Jeannette police at 724-527-4013 or Westmoreland County detectives at 724-836-4013.
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