Police seek cellphone video evidence of fatal North Versailles hayride shooting

Authorities are looking for anyone who witnessed or has cellphone video of a shooting Saturday evening at a hayride in North Versailles that left one 15-year-old dead and another teen critically wounded.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office said Steven Eason of Wilkinsburg was pronounced dead of gunshot wounds at a hospital at 8:49 p.m. Saturday. The identity of the second youth has not been released.

The shooting happened about 8:15 p.m. near the 500 block of Mosside Boulevard, during the opening night of the 22nd annual Haunted Hills Hayride in North Versailles, police said.

Eason was with a group of friends who casually knew the other boy. When Eason saw that boy involved in a confrontation with the teen suspected of firing the shots, Eason and his friends tried to help him.

Police don’t know what the confrontation was about, they said.

The suspect is Black, between 15 and 17 and between 5-foot 9-inches and 6 feet tall with a slender build, police said. He fired a handgun three times, hitting Eason and the other boy, and ran toward the parking lot at the hayride, police said.

At the time of the shooting, there were between 50 to 100 people in the immediate area, police said.

Eason was a student at Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood, and the other boy who was shot is a student at Penn Hills High School, according to a post on the district’s Facebook page.

Counselors will be available at both schools to help students this week.

“The Central Catholic community is deeply saddened by this tragic loss. Steven was a dedicated student, a talented member of the track team and a blessing to have at Central Catholic,” Brother Tony Bagin­ski, Central Catholic’s principal, said in a statement.

“He will be deeply missed by all of us at Central Catholic, and we offer our condolences and prayers to his family and friends,” Baginski said. “Our counseling team as well as alumni who are trained in grief counseling are here to provide support for the family and the Central Catholic community.

Monday afternoon, Haunted Hills Hayride posted on Facebook that operations will continue.

“After meeting with members of our event staff and with an outpouring of support from the community and our fan base, it has been determined that we cannot let an isolated bad act stop the good of what the Haunted Hills Hayride provides,” the post reads. “Accordingly, we will resume our scheduled dates of operation as stated online.”

Anyone with information concerning the shootings is asked to call the county police Tip Line 1-833-255-8477 (ALL-TIPS). Callers can remain anonymous.