Shootings in East End dominate discussion

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Top Pittsburgh police officials met with East End residents in Homewood on Thursday for a tense and emotional conversation about policing and race.

Much of the night’s discussion centered on a February shooting in which Officer Gino Macioce, a five-year veteran and field training officer, shot and killed Mark Daniels, 39, in what police say was an exchange of gunfire.

Community members repeatedly asked a panel of local leaders why Officer Macioce — who had been involved in two other nonfatal shootings in the 10 months before he shot Daniels — was still patrolling Homewood.

Police Chief Scott Schubert said that each officer-involved shooting must be considered individually.

“You have to look at each incident based on the facts of each incident,” he said.

Victor Muhammad of Wilkinsburg took issue with that answer.

“You want us to take it on a case-by-case basis, but you’re not the ones getting shot,” he said. “We’re the ones getting shot. If you stop shooting black men, then we can take things on a case-by-case basis.”

Zone 5 Cmdr. Jason Lando told the crowd that Officer Macioce is one of his hardest-working officers, and that he was tasked with patrolling especially volatile areas.

“I tell him we have a lot of gunfire on this street, go spend time there,” Cmdr. Lando said. “And he goes. ... When ShotSpotter