Downtown Pittsburgh convenience store employee stabbed
A convenience store employee was stabbed in Downtown Pittsburgh while trying to stop a man from stealing merchandise on Friday afternoon, officials said.
Pittsburgh Public Safety said police were called to the 600 block of Liberty Avenue for reports of a stabbing shortly after 1 p.m.
When officers got there, they found a convenience store employee who had been stabbed in the ribs. Public Safety said he was conscious, alert and speaking with officers and medics. The 7-Eleven employee was taken to a hospital in stable condition.
The victim and witnesses told police that the suspect was trying to steal merchandise. When the victim tried to stop the suspect, investigators said the two struggled before the suspect stabbed the victim.
The suspect ran towards the North Shore, and Public Safety said officers used city cameras to track him to the river trail near PNC Park.
Officials said the suspect was taken to the hospital for medical clearance. Afteward, he'll be transported to the Allegheny County Jail. Public Safety said charges are pending. The suspect's identity hasn't been released yet.
It's the second recent stabbing in Downtown Pittsburgh. On June 18, a man was found stabbed multiple times after police were called to the intersection of Liberty Avenue and Smithfield Street. Thirty-year-old Christopher Harris Jr. was arrested on charges of attempted criminal homicide in connection with that stabbing.
Friend of victim reacts to stabbing
Rodney Lawyer walked into the 7-Eleven shortly after 1 p.m. on Friday when an employee told him his friend who works at the convenience store had just been stabbed.
"When they told me, I just bust down in tears," Lawyer said. "They're like he's a very good friend of yours and I said, 'Yeah, he is.' Like I've known him for 20 years. He's easy to connect friendship with. He was lying there bleeding and everything."
"I'm really putting a lot of prayers up for him," Lawyer added.
KDKA asked Lawyer if he feels safe walking around Downtown Pittsburgh.
"No," he said.
Lawyer said he only spends time in the city because he lives above the convenience store. And he's not sure what could be done to make Downtown safer.
"They've already got cops around, I have no idea what else to say," said Lawyer.
