A man has been charged with using a slingshot to hurl rocks at people in downtown Pittsburgh.
“He would just sit there looking at people and shooting at ‘em… he’s crazy,” Brian Michael told Channel 11.
Michael was present yesterday morning when police allege Yashua Strong was blasting rocks at individuals with a slingshot in Mellon Square Park.
“They didn’t know what was going on; it was coming from nowhere,” he added.
Pittsburgh police received multiple reports of Strong flinging rocks at people at about 9 a.m. Sunday.
“It’s terrible, this is a nice park up here. There’s pigeons, fountains, people hang up there to eat lunch,” Michael said.
One victim told authorities that he was repeatedly hit with pebbles in the back of his legs and that the suspect then pretended to have a gun in his waistband and warned him, “I’m going to deal with you.”
Another victim was a city employee who was painting the park’s central fountain. According to police, Strong fired a rock at his face, breaking his sunglasses.
Downtown people today were astonished to learn that this occurred in the center of popular Mellon Square Park.
The man, according to police, is homeless and received a citation 30 minutes ago.
