Harrison Hi-Rise tenants recount the mayhem of shots being fired into their apartments

A loud boom echoed through the Harrison Hi-Rise building just before 5 a.m. Sunday. Several of its residents, who are all seniors, said they heard at least seven shots fired.

Ruth Ann Kilgore, who lives on the eighth floor, heard a loud bang at 4:55 a.m.

“I was scared. I wasn’t getting out of bed,” she said. “I was lying flat and keeping my head down.”

Allegheny County Police said at about 4:30 a.m., someone started firing into the hi-rise building. Police said there were multiple gunshots. One person was found with a minor injury and was treated at the scene.

Kilgore, 83, said she heard someone was shot in the foot but was OK. She said police told her the weapon used was likely a high-powered sniper-like rifle.

“It was powerful,” she said.

Photographs obtained by the Tribune-Review show that police set down evidence markers at the corner of Westminster Alley and Harvard Avenue, more than 100 yards across Freeport Road from the Harrison Hi-Rise building.

In a follow-up email, Allegheny County Police said that evidence of rifle and pistol fire was located at the scene. Messages left with Harrison police were not returned.

Kilgore said she suspects the shots were fired from the intersection of Westminster Alley and Harvard Avenue. It wasn’t until after she gathered herself and a neighbor visited her apartment later that morning that she noticed several bullet holes in her apartment.

One bullet appeared to pass through the wall near the top of her bedroom window, bounce off her ceiling then continue through the wall above her closet, through the hallway walls and into the bathroom.

She has been living in the eight-story apartment building in the 2000 block of Broadview Boulevard for 10 years and said there never has been an incident like this shooting.

“You can’t be safe anywhere anymore,” she said.

Kilgore said she was scared after the shooting but still wants to remain in her apartment.

“What else am I supposed to do? I am 83 years old,” she said.

One of her eighth-floor neighbors’ apartments suffered worse damage, as one of the sliding-glass doors to its patio was blown out.

A woman named Maryann, 72, who did not want to provide her last name, said a loud boom woke her from sleep about 5 a.m.

She was on the couch in her living room and said once she heard the shot, she ran into the hallway and crouched down.

“It was really scary. I didn’t know I could run like that,” she said through tears. “My heart was beating like crazy.”

Maryann has been living in the apartment for eight years. She said everyone calls her “Toots,” a nickname her Italian grandfather gave her because of her dark brown hair.

While cowering in the hallway, Maryann said she thought about her family and how she wanted to see them again.

Dozens of photos of her 13 great-grandchildren are hung all over the small apartment, along with posters of the Steelers and Penguins.

The bullet hit about 5 feet up on the sliding-glass door, splintering two hanging blinds, destroying one of her house plants and appearing to continue into the wall near the kitchen. One hole sat just below a sign that reads “Italians, we are loud, we are proud.”

“I am strong. I have been through so much,” she said. “But if the bullet was a little bit farther down, I would not have made it.”

Clearly shaken from the event, Maryann’s voice broke as she detailed the shooting. She was lying on the couch less than 2 feet from where the sliding-glass door was hit. She said bullets likely flew just a couple of feet over her head while she was lying there.

“I don’t know how long it will take me to get over this,” she said. “I am scared the shooter is going to come back.”

Allegheny County Police are investigating. Anyone with information is asked to call the county police tip line at 1-833-ALL-TIPS.