Ex-con from Pittsburgh arrested in McKees Rocks shooting

An ex-con from Pittsburgh who was arrested Thursday in connection with a shooting in McKees Rocks is facing numerous charges, including a federal firearms charge.

Ernest Terry, 45, also is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person in the shooting that occurred earlier this week.

Allegheny County police arrested Terry after a brief pursuit outside the Hays Manor Housing Complex on Locust Street, the same complex where the crimes were allegedly committed on Tuesday.

That morning, ACPD said, Terry emerged from a home and waved a gun at a repossession agent who was parked in the complex. As the agent drove away, Terry allegedly fired multiple shots at his car, striking it three times.

Terry had previously served 15 years in federal prison for firearms and drug charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pittsburgh said.

Officers found a loaded .45-caliber pistol in Terry’s waistband, and they later determined the gun was stolen, the release said.

Convicted felons are prohibited from owning or possessing guns.

“When our office learns that violent offenders have violated federal law, we will work quickly in partnership with our state and local partners to bring them to justice, and we commend the work of the Allegheny County Police Department in apprehending Terry,” U.S. Attorney Eric G. Olshan said in the release.

Terry’s apprehension marks the fifth recent arrest in a string of gun violence in the McKees Rocks and Stowe Township area.

On Thursday, Jarrell Saunders, 39, was arrested in connection with a shootout with officers in McKees Rocks last year. Earlier this month, a 17- year- old boy was charged with allegedly shooting at officers in Stowe.

Terry was denied bail for posing as a threat to the community and remains in the Allegheny County Jail, according to court records.

If he is again classified as an armed career criminal, Terry faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.