Police seek to identify male in connection with Pittsburgh Airbnb shooting

Update: Police say they have identified the man in the photos. Police did not provide any additional information as of May 11, 2022.

Pittsburgh police are trying to identify a young man in connection with the fatal Easter shooting at an Airbnb party on the city’s North Side.

Investigators stopped short of calling the male a suspect or person of interest, rather saying only that they are asking for help identifying him “in relation to” the April 17 killings.

The shooting happened shortly after 12:30 a.m. at a rental unit in East Allegheny, a small neighborhood bordering I-279. Police have said around 200 people were in the unit at the intersection of Suismon Street and Madison Avenue when the shooting started.

The gunfire — at least 50 rounds fired inside and just as many outside, police have said — sent people running for cover, with some jumping from windows to escape.

Two teen boys were killed: Jaiden Brown and Matthew Steffy-Ross, both 17. Eight others were injured by gunfire and five were hurt trying to escape.

Chief Scott Schubert confirmed the day after the shooting that officers responded to a noise complaint at the party around 11 p.m. An officer told someone at the unit to turn down the music and warned of consequences if police had to come back.

“There was nothing unusual to indicate that something was wrong,” Schubert said at the time. “We have some information that shows that a lot of these people didn’t come until after midnight.”

Steffy-Ross was a student at Phase 4 Learning Center in East Liberty and Brown attended Woodland Hills High School.

Police have not said if they know who rented the Airbnb, but Ben Breit, a spokesman for the company, said renters must be an adult. The person who booked the rental has been banned from using the rental company for life. In addition, he said, the company will pursue legal action.

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