17-year-old charged in shooting at Perry Traditional Academy

Pittsburgh police have identified the suspect in a shooting Tuesday at Perry Traditional Academy in the North Side.

Micaiah Wheeler, 17, of Forest Hills was arraigned Wednesday morning on eight counts each of attempted homicide and aggravated assault as well as various firearm and endangerment charges.

No one was hurt when he allegedly fired at least 11 shots shortly after 8 a.m. outside the public school in the city’s Perry North neighborhood.

At least some bullets hit the building, breaking two windows and damaging the brick work.

The school briefly entered a lockdown, and is operating in a synchronous remote format Wednesday “out of an abundance of caution,” according to a message on the Pittsburgh Public Schools website.

In the attached criminal complaint, police described a person in a black hood, gray sweatpants and a black mask repeatedly discharging a handgun into a crowd of about eight people on the school’s steps before fleeing via Perrysville Avenue.

Police were dispatched prior to the 11-shot ShotSpotter notification coming in. When they arrived on scene, the complaint states, they found as many 9mm rounds and a laser attachment for a gun.

Upon reviewing surveillance footage, according to police, a school security officer identified the hooded figure as Wheeler.

The footage also showed Wheeler trailing several of the victims as they walked past Trio’s Market and toward the school, police said.

Wheeler is not a student at Perry Traditional Academy, according to Pittsburgh Public Schools spokesperson Ebony Pugh.

He is, however, apparently a former student, as his name appears on several scouting websites that show him playing football for the school.

Wheeler was found around 7:30 p.m. near a shopping plaza along Centre Avenue in the city’s Crawford-Robert’s section and taken into custody at the Allegheny County Jail.

His preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 27.