Morning Roundup: 2 injured in Cranberry mobile home fire; coroner identifies Homewood shooting victim

Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, Oct. 15:

2 injured in Cranberry mobile home fire

Two people were taken to the hospital early Wednesday after a mobile home fire in Butler County.

Firefighters were called to the home on York Road in Cranberry around 1:30 a.m., TribLive news partner WTAE reported. Crews remained on the scene nearly three hours later.

No information was immediately available on the victims’ conditions or what might have caused the fire.

Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Co. — which is based on Route 19, or Perry Highway — did not respond to phone calls or an email Wednesday seeking comment.

Coroner ID’s Homewood shooting victim

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the victim of a fatal shooting last month in Homewood as a 55-year-old Braddock man.

Kevin Venson died around 11:45 p.m. Sept. 12 at UPMC Presbyterian hospital, the medical examiner said Tuesday.

Pittsburgh police said they found Venson after they were dispatched around 9:45 p.m. to Newman Way, near its intersection with Felicia Way, in the city’s Homewood neighborhood. He had been shot in the neck.

Police initially said there were no suspects in the case.

Officers continue to investigate. No arrests have been announced.

Charleroi crash sends driver to hospital

A motorist was hospitalized Tuesday following a crash in Charleroi, officials said.

First responders were dispatched to the 800 block of McKean Avenue around 8:45 p.m., a dispatcher told TribLive. A car crashed after hitting a pole there and rolling over.

No information was available early Wednesday on the driver’s condition or the extent of their injuries.

1 flown to hospital after Sewickley Township crash

One person was flown to the hospital early Wednesday after a crash in Westmoreland County.

The crash happened about 12:30 a.m. on the 600 block of Apples Mill Road in Sewickley Township, officials told TribLive news partner WTAE.

The condition of the person who was hurt was not immediately available.

Bethel Park School District superintendent retiring

Superintendent James Walsh, who started leading the South Hills school district in March 2021, will retire after the 2025-26 school year, officials announced online.

During Walsh’s tenure, the 4,200-student district renovated Independence Middle School and started construction of a new elementary school, which is set to open next year, school officials said.

Walsh was leading the district in 2022 when Bethel Park High School was named a National Blue Ribbon School, officials said. The program recognizes schools for academic excellence.

Walsh previously served as superintendent in the Burgettstown Area School District, according to his LinkedIn profile. From 2008 to 2015, he worked in the Mt. Lebanon School District, where he worked for four years as principal at Thomas Jefferson Middle School.

Walsh’s education career started in 2000 in the Hopewell School District in Beaver County.

School board president James Modrak lauded Walsh this week for helming the district amid the “tremendous transition” of the pandemic.

“What he has built — culturally and structurally — cannot be overstated,” Modrak said in a prepared statement.