Police make arrest in shooting death of North Side homeless shelter worker

Pittsburgh police have made an arrest in the early Saturday morning shooting death of an employee of a North Side homeless shelter.

The victim, whom police identified only as a 57-year-old man, worked at the Pleasant Valley Men’s Shelter, 1601 Brighton Road, as a night monitor.

In a Facebook post, the shelter operator identified the victim as Sheldon “Sarge” Stoudemire, of Braddock.

Police said he was shot in the chest when he refused to let someone in in the middle of the night. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition but later died.

Police arrested Gerald Adams, 19.

The shelter is operated by Northside Common Ministries, whose director, Jay Poliziani, described Stoudemire as a “dedicated family man” who was devoted to his work.

“He’ll be sorely missed,” he said.

Poliziani said Stoudemire followed proper protocol by not admitting the man overnight. The shelter has a policy of not accepting admissions after midnight.

Poliziani said the incident, which occurred at 3:30 a.m., was captured on surveillance video that has been turned over to police.

“The staff person went to the door and acknowledged the person and told him he could come back tomorrow. At that point, the shooter shot through the door, through the glass,” Poliziani said. “The shooter then casually walked down the ramp and down the street.”

Prior to the shooting incident, police said they had seen Adams standing in the middle of Brighton Road. After receiving the report of gunfire in the 1600 block of Brighton Road, they returned to talk to him.

Adams started running, and as he fled, he discarded two guns, which police recovered, according to a police report. Police apprehended him and took him to Zone 1 headquarters for questioning.

Homicide charges against Adams are pending, police said.

Poliziani said Stoudemire worked at the shelter part time for about two years. He worked there three nights a week and was respected by the shelter clientele.

“When the men woke up this morning, they were devastated because they knew he cared about their well-being,” he said. “He had good relations with the community.”

Poliziani said Stoudemire did not recognize the shooting suspect, nor is he a regular client of the shelter.

Northside Common Ministries is an affiliate of Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania.