Suspect identified in shooting on July 4

Slanderous rap videos between two rival groups led to a shooting that left two people critically injured in Downtown after the city’s Fourth of July fireworks, according to court documents.

Pittsburgh police Thursday obtained an arrest warrant for Camerin Caldwell, 18, of MarshallShadeland, who is accused of shooting two males about 11 p. m. July 4 near Penn Avenue and Seventh Street in the Cultural District shortly after the Flashes of Freedom fireworks ended at Point State Park.

The victims were a 16- yearold boy, who was shot in the head, and an 18- year- old man, who was shot six times in the body, according to a police affidavit. They were taken to hospitals in critical condition.

Police said Mr. Caldwell and the two victims were part of opposing groups that had fought multiple times earlier in the night. One fight, the affidavit said, occurred inside Point State Park near the end of the fireworks.

“The altercations stemmed from rap videos that were previously released in which one group would slander the other, and vice versa,” the affidavit said.

After the fight at Point State Park, the groups separated and walked farther into the city before meeting again at the Agnes R. Katz Plaza in the Cultural District, where the shooting occurred.

At the time, thousands of revelers were still making their way out of the Downtown area.

Investigators reviewed surveillance camera footage from the plaza that showed young adults yelling at each other before a fight broke out, according to the affidavit.

The video shows a man raising his arm and firing a handgun as the crowd around him quickly disperses. The 16- yearold victim collapses, and the 18year- old victim runs several feet before dropping behind a bush on Penn Avenue.

The shooter, identified as Mr. Caldwell, then runs into Scott Place, an alley behind Katz Plaza, and does a “lay- up” style jump, dropping the gun into a dumpster, the affidavit said. Police later recovered the weapon.

Two unnamed witnesses identified Mr. Caldwell as the shooter when they were shown footage from the surveillance camera, according to the affidavit.

Mr. Caldwell is charged with two counts each of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment in addition to firearms violations.