5 arrests made in connection to Monroeville Mall shooting

Five men are in jail and one remains at large in connection with a fight and shooting last month at Monroeville Mall, authorities said Thursday.

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said the shooting grew out of a fight between two gangs from McKeesport.

“Consider this matter ongoing,” Zappala said. “There will be other arrests – not necessarily just for what happened at the mall.”

The April 12 fight in the lower level sent patrons in the mall and in anchor store Macy’s Backstage scrambling. Then someone fired 14 shots at the department store. No one was injured.

Zappala announced the arrests alongside Monroeville Mayor Nick Gresock and police Chief Doug Cole.

The alleged shooter, 21-year-old Brandon Noel, of McKeesport, is charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, riot, reckless endangerment and firing into an occupied structure.

Brandon Murphy, 24, Jared Ogrosky, 21, Fordery Morris, 20, and Treysaun Lockett-Tillman, all from McKeesport, are charged with one count each of riot, simple assault and disorderly conduct. Jamaal Abdul-Rabb, 22, of Turtle Creek, faces the same charges.

Murphy had not yet been arrested as of about 2 p.m.

Zappala said the fight and subsequent shooting stemmed from a dispute between the two McKeesport gangs, one affiliated with Crawford Square and one affiliated with Harrison Village. He said Noel, Ogrosky, Morris and Lockett-Tillman are affiliated with Crawford, while Murphy is connected to the Harrison group.

Though Murphy is the only alleged Harrison affiliate facing charges right now, Zappala said he believes there were about six people involved on each side, and more arrests could come. He declined to elaborate.

According to the criminal complaint, five men in two vehicles pulled into the mall parking lot. Noel and Morris were in a Dodge Avenger, and Lockett-Tillman, Ogrosky and Abdul-Rabb were in a Volkswagen.

Investigators said the men went into Macy’s shortly after 7:30 p.m. Morris bought a shirt and the five left the store but “quickly returned to Macy’s as if the group saw something or someone,” according to the complaint.

Noel walked to the Dodge Avenger where police believe he retrieved a 9mm handgun. The group went into the lower level of the mall, police wrote, where Ogrosky started a fight with Murphy, who was already in the mall.

More men joined the fight, which began near the mall’s children’s play area, according to the complaint.

“This becomes a melee,” Zappala said. “People are starting to try to get out of the mall as rapidly as possible and protect their children.”

The fight moved into Macy’s, and the five men who arrived together eventually ran toward the store’s outdoor exit, police said. As they did, Noel allegedly turned back to the store and fired 14 shots toward Macy’s double doors.

From there, the men involved scattered.

Gresock said he was in the mall that night with his 6-year-old son.

“No parent should have to explain to their children why we’re leaving the mall abruptly and why the gates are closing and why the storefronts are closing,” he said.

Zappala said security footage from the mall, the department store and other cameras throughout the eastern suburbs helped identify the men.

“Our witnesses are virtual witnesses,” he said.