Editorial: Frustrating parallels between North Side and Alabama shootings and the agonizing wait for answers

In Alabama, there is mourning for the loss of four people who were attending a 16th birthday party Saturday in Dadeville. There is concern for the health and well-being of 32 more who were injured.

But people are frustrated by the lack of answers about what happened and who is responsible. As of Tuesday, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is investigating.

They are updating as information becomes available. Two days after the shooting, they reported handguns were the likely weapon, as no high-powered ammunition was recovered. They increased the casualty count from the previous 28 injured.

“This is a very fluid situation,” ALEA Senior Trooper Jeremy Burkett said in a news conference.

In Pittsburgh, a parallel situation may not give the people of Alabama much comfort.

On April 17, 2022 — 364 days before the Dadeville shooting, a party was held at an Airbnb on Pittsburgh’s North Side. It started on Saturday and carried on past midnight into Easter Sunday. It was about 12:30 a.m. when the first gunfire summoned police.

There were about 200 people at the party. Shots happened in the building and outside, and people ran to escape. Matthew Steffy-Ross and Jaiden Brown, both 17, died. At least eight others were injured. Blood streaked cars in what was described by one local as “a war scene.”

“Our top priority is to find out who did this and get them off the street,” said then-Pittsburgh police Chief Scott Schubert.

Schubert officially retired three months later. Acting Chief Thomas Stangrecki has held the reins of the department since, but a new chief is expected to be announced soon from a list of three finalists. A long list of violence and shootings have kept police busy over the year. Very busy.

But that top priority? There is no new information. There were no arrests. The parents of Steffy-Ross and Brown have no answers about why their sons are dead.

Perhaps the people of Alabama will have answers faster — or at all. Dadeville has a population of about 3,000. It’s about the size of Brackenridge, a bit smaller than Tarentum. That’s a smaller pool to investigate. The party in question may have been more defined than the Airbnb free-for-all, which could also help.

Alabama authorities are doing what Pittsburgh police did, asking people to call with information and providing a link to upload photos and video to reconstruct the events.

That’s the same way that law enforcement re-created the Boston Marathon attack in 2013 that killed three and injured 281. In four days, one bomber was dead and the other arrested.

Sometimes priorities and effort and the push of a community are enough to get answers. Sometimes they aren’t. Let’s hope that a year from now, Alabama isn’t still waiting — and neither is Pittsburgh.