Mentor works to counsel, support teens following Pittsburgh Airbnb shooting

A Monroeville man who said he serves as a mentor for several teens who attended the deadly Airbnb party on Pittsburgh’s North Side over the weekend said overcrowded conditions at the party led to the gunfire that left two dead and nine others wounded.

The teens who spoke with Jamal Woodson, a general sales manager at WAMO-FM who also serves as Baldwin High School’s girls head basketball coach, told him that the host of the party grew upset at the overcrowded conditions and asked people to leave. Police said more than 200 people had been at the party when gunfire erupted.

“That agitated some people, and there were some people that didn’t like each other anyway,” Woodson said the teens reported. “Next thing you know, one (partygoer) started firing at another and the other one started firing back.”

Investigators have said at least 50 shots were fired inside the Airbnb rental unit, and about 50 more were fired outside. What appear to be bullet holes can be seen in Peralta Street buildings more than 100 feet away from the Airbnb rental on Suismon Street. Pittsburgh police said Wednesday that multiple types of firearms, including handguns and an AR-15-style rifle, were used.

Woodson said the teens he spoke with said the gunfire lasted for about two minutes — a span that seemed to them like an eternity.

Mathew Steffy-Ross and Jaiden Brown, both 17, died after being shot. Nine other victims were injured by gunfire and five people were hurt trying to escape the scene.

No arrests had been made as of Wednesday afternoon. Woodson said none of the teens he spoke with have talked with police.

“People are afraid to tell the police, and afraid that something will happen to them or their family in retaliation if they speak out. There (also) is little to no trust between Black teenagers and police,” said Woodson, who is Black.

“I would tell them to come forward if they knew they would not have to testify against the shooter or for it to be public knowledge — only if it could be anonymous,” Woodson said. “It’s really easy to tell someone to come forward without realizing the consequences if they actually do.”

Woodson said the teens he spoke with reported having a range of emotions, from reliving the fear of dying that they felt as the shots were being fired to feeling lucky to be alive. Some had a grim acceptance that such a violent incident “was just life,” he said.

“This event is just another example of making people numb,” said Woodson. “You are seeing gun violence all the time. And you hear about it all the time, especially in the city of Pittsburgh. I don’t know too many inner-city kids that have not been touched personally by gun violence.”

Woodson said it is getting harder to mentor young people amid increasing gun violence. He advocated for more funding and ramped-up effort to combat the violence before it occurs, not just in the aftermath of high-profile shootings.

“It is hard when you are a mentor to these kids to see and hear the fear that they are going through and that nothing is being done and it is the same thing over and over again,” Woodson said.