Boy shot with BB gun in critical condition

Man charged; pellet lodged in victim’s heart

An 11-year-old McKeesport boy was in critical condition Monday after being shot in the chest with a BB rifle by a man who said the boy had shot his son in the buttocks with a BB gun a day earlier, police said.

The shot lodged a BB pellet in the boy’s heart and he had to be flown by helicopter from UPMC McKeesport to Children’s Hospital of UPMC of Pittsburgh, where he was being treated.

Allegheny County Police said that Albert Clark, 31, of McKeesport shot the unidentified boy Sunday after seeking him out when he learned that, in addition to shooting Mr. Clark’s 5-year-old son in the buttocks on Saturday, the 11-year-old also shot at Mr. Clark’s son a second time Sunday.

Mr. Clark was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, and single counts of recklessly endangering another person and tampering with evidence. He was being held on $250,000 bail and a preliminary hearing was set for June 1.

Mr. Clark allegedly confronted the boy sometime during the day Sunday with an Airsoft rifle as he was playing near the former George Washington Elementary School in the 1800 block of Sumac Street in McKeesport.

Police said Mr. Clark shot at the boy once and missed, and then shot at him again, hitting him in the chest and knocking him down. Mr. Clark left the scene and told police he gave the rifle to a juvenile who was walking up the street.

A witness told police that while the 11-year-old was on the ground he said he could not breathe.

A neighbor told KDKA-TV that when she got to the scene, and after an ambulance did not immediately arrive following calls to 911, she drove the boy to UPMC McKeesport herself.

A witness told police that several people were present when “Ace” — a nickname for Clark — approached the boy and shot him.

In addition, police said the victim told his mother, as well as a doctor at UPMC McKeesport’s emergency room, that “Ace” had shot him.

Two county police officers then went to Mr. Clark’s McKeesport home, and police said they could “overhear a male and female arguing about the incident at the George Washington School,” according to the criminal complaint in the case.

When police knocked on the door, Mr. Clark volunteered that he had 5,000 BBs — which kids in the neighborhood would ask him for — in the home and he gave them to police.

After Mr. Clark was advised of his Miranda rights and signed a consent form, police said Mr. Clark told them “that he was upset that the Victim had shot his five year old son with a ‘BiBi’ gun in the buttocks the day before and that he had shot at his son again on May 24, 2015.”