Church in Pittsburgh damaged by lightning strike

A Shadyside church is picking up the pieces after lightning struck the building Friday morning.

As Apollo Mulhern and her friend and neighbor, Summer Savary, walked around Third Presbyterian Church, they came across dozens of pieces of cement scattered on the ground.

They took a walk from their apartments a few streets down to Fifth by South Negley avenues when the rain stopped on Friday, wanting to see the aftermath of the strange sound they heard a couple of hours earlier.

"There was just a sudden crack that just was closer than any thunder I've ever heard in my life," Mulhern said.

It was between 9:10 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., and they were still in their beds.

"I immediately shot up and texted her and was like, 'Did you hear that?' because it was insane," Mulhern said.

"It like shook the ground almost," Savary said.

They weren't sure what it was, but thought possibly lightning struck something nearby. It wasn't long before they saw a post on social media citing the police scanner, mentioning the church in their neighborhood.

"I didn't realize that it hit a building, let alone a church," Mulhern said.

The parish told KDKA-TV, "damage occurred to the steeple/spire above the sanctuary... believed to have been caused by a lightning strike." Pittsburgh police, fire and public works responded.

The church said, thankfully, no one was hurt, and it is assessing the damage with a structural engineer.