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Gunshot fired near Mayor Ed Gainey's house

Gunshot fired near Mayor Ed Gainey's house
Gunshot fired near Mayor Ed Gainey's house 02:39

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- On what was a quiet spring evening, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said he was sitting on his porch with a friend when that peace was shattered.

"Someone ran out of a small alley or something, let off a shot in the air," he said.

And, against his better judgment, he said he went to get a closer look.

"Listen, when you hear a gunshot, don't come off the porch," he said. "But I did come off the porch just to take a look. When I did take a look, we see a person running to a car. They jumped into the car and made a left on Paulson and went up the street, so that's what i saw."

The car sped away, and the mayor said he called 911, and then his security detail. For several days, Chief Scott Schubert ordered 24-hour security around Gainey's house. But the mayor and the police said it's clear the shot was not intended for him or his family.

"Then I did the right thing," Gainey said. "I called 911. I called my detail, and they came, and the rest you have to talk to them about.

"Always concerned for my family. But let me reiterate -- the shot was for my house. It was for me."

The mayor said he's no stranger to gun violence.

"We got to work hard," he said. "We got to work to get these guns out of hands. We shouldn't even be having this conversation. We should be talking about little league sports, we should be talking about arts and culture, we should be talking about things that grow. This is a situation we have. But this is a city issue and we all have a role to play to keep these guns out of young people." 

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