A father and his adult son were found shot to death Monday in their Pleasant Hills home, sending shockwaves through a quiet suburban neighborhood where, neighbors said, the family had lived for more than 25 years.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the men as Edgar Dawson, 72, and Bradley Dawson, 38.
Police said they were dispatched at 7:21 a.m. for a potential shooting at the home in the 400 block of Nantucket Drive. When they arrived, nobody answered the door.
The county’s SWAT team was called in and told residents of nearby homes to stay indoors, neighbors told TribLive.
Authorities entered the home around 9 a.m., breaking through a large glass window in the front of the modest two-story home.
Inside, they found the two men, both of whom were dead from what appeared to be single gunshot wounds.
Early Monday, investigators stressed there was no threat to the public. Shortly after 12:30 p.m., a small group of people gathered outside the home as a contractor boarded up the broken window.
They declined to speak with reporters.
John Belcher, a retired U.S. Steel administrator, said he had been living on Nantucket Drive for decades before the neighbors moved there about 28 years ago.
The man who lived in the house had two adult sons and was always kind to people in the neighborhood, according to Belcher and his wife, Jeanne John.
“They were very, very nice neighbors,” said Jeanne John, 79, a retired railroad administrator. “This is a nice neighborhood. The people are nice. And you don’t have any problems.”
The retired couple said the neighbors allegedly involved in the shooting would often help them with mowing the lawn and other household tasks.
“(The man) was such a nice person,” said John Belcher, 82, who moved to the Pittsburgh area from Gary, Ind., in 1967 to work at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works.
“I would’ve never expected this to happen,” his wife added.
The county police’s homicide unit is investigating and asks anyone with information to call the County Police Tip Line 1-833-255-8477 (ALL-TIPS). Callers can remain anonymous.
Rich Cholodofsky and Justin Vellucci are TribLive staff writers. Email them at rcholodofsky@triblive.com and jvellucci@triblive.com.
