When Monroeville police Sgt. James MacDonald responded to an armed robbery last year at the Crumbl cookie shop on William Penn Highway, he was familiar with the area surrounding the Miracle Mile Shopping Center.

MacDonald headed to a road nearby, hoping he might catch the suspect trying to flee.

As he drove along Monroeville Boulevard, the sergeant spotted a man who matched the suspect’s description. Dressed in dark clothing, the man was walking casually, putting on an orange, reflective construction vest.

MacDonald didn’t know if he was involved in the robbery but thought he should talk to him.

Stopping on Stonecliffe Drive, MacDonald came under siege almost immediately.

“Shots fired! Shots fired! Shots fired,” MacDonald shouted into his police radio as bullets peppered his police car. “Stonecliffe. Stonecliffe. Stonecliffe.”

“Black male. Orange vest. Orange vest. Shots fired! Shots fired!”

MacDonald, who was shot twice that night, was the first witness called to testify on Wednesday in the jury trial of the accused shooter, Jamal Brooks. Jurors listened to audio of MacDonald’s dispatches.

Arrested on the scene, Brooks, 33, of Aliquippa, is charged with assault of a law enforcement officer, attempted homicide, aggravated assault and carrying a firearm without a license.

“That male taken into custody was the male who was shooting at me,” MacDonald told the jury. “One-hundred-percent certainty.”

Brooks, who chose to appear in court in his lime green jail uniform instead of the street clothes favored by most criminal defendants, is representing himself before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Elliot Howsie.

“I could have come in a suit, but I thought that would deceive you to think I’m a free person,” Brooks told jurors. “I’m still being held captive … while I’m supposed to be innocent until proven (guilty) beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Brooks, who has a history of arrests for gun charges dating back nearly a decade, asked the jury to keep an open mind and said it was sad a law enforcement officer had to go through such a traumatic experience.

“No one should be subjected to violence.”

Conspicuous clothing

Police were dispatched to Crumbl at 9:13 p.m. on Jan. 3, 2024, for the report of an armed robbery.

MacDonald, who spent about 2½ hours on the stand, told the jury he was at the Monroeville police station that night when he was called out.

When he spotted the man walking along Monroeville Boulevard, MacDonald said he wasn’t sure it was the suspect.

“I was a little caught off guard when the male wasn’t running away,” he said. “Why put on the vest and draw attention to themselves if they were involved in a robbery?”

MacDonald did a U-turn and stopped on Stonecliffe, a side street.

“My vehicle almost immediately starts taking rounds,” he said.

MacDonald saw the man in the orange vest approaching, with both arms extended, holding what he thought was a semi-automatic handgun.

“I could see the muzzle flash from the gun going off,” he said.

MacDonald realized he needed to put more distance between himself and the shooter, he said, so he put his car in reverse and slammed on the gas — all while calling for help on his radio.

MacDonald said the shooter moved as well, taking up a higher position near a retaining wall. The assailant kept firing.

As MacDonald moved his marked Ford Explorer he rammed a telephone pole. Moments later, he said, the suspect stopped firing and started walking away.

By then other officers had arrived, and they arrested the man later identified as Brooks.

“The orange construction vest made it easy to follow,” MacDonald said.

‘Miracle that he’s alive’

Even though he’d been shot twice, MacDonald got out of his vehicle and walked the short distance to where the suspect was down on the ground.

Despite his injuries, MacDonald, who was the patrol shift supervisor, directed arriving officers for several minutes before sought treatment at an ambulance.

His elbow was shattered. Doctors inserted a plate and screws, MacDonald said.

The shot in his left buttock was another matter. MacDonald said the bullet traveled across his body, lodging in his right hip.

MacDonald told the jury he wasn’t able to return to full duty for nearly 10 months.

As part of his testimony, the prosecution played video from both his dashboard and body cameras.

MacDonald, whose tone on the stand was matter-of-fact and sometimes even light, occasionally narrated the harrowing images and sounds coming from the video screen.

On cross-examination, Brooks quizzed MacDonald about the lighting conditions on the street that night and asked how the sergeant could have gotten such a good look at the suspect.

Brooks hammered on the same theme in his opening statement.

But Allegheny County Deputy District Attorney Ilan Zur told the jury the evidence against Brooks is overwhelming.

Mostly, he said, it’s because the entire crime is captured on video.

“Jamal Brooks raises up and just unloads,” Zur said. “He shoots 16 times — riddling Sgt. MacDonald’s car.”

Investigators found one bullet embedded in the driver’s headrest, Zur said. At least two other shots went through the windshield.

“It is truly a miracle that he’s alive today,” the prosecutor said.

During his opening, Brooks disagreed that the video clearly identifies the shooter. Instead, he said there is no distinctive characteristic visible.

“It could be anyone,” Brooks said. “You can’t see who the individual is.”

Testimony is scheduled to resume Thursday.

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