4 men charged in Arnold shooting near police station

Police say two men involved in a shoot-out just a block from Arnold’s police station in May still are at large.

Four New Kensington men face charges in connection with the shooting, in which more than 30 shots were fired. Two of the men are in jail awaiting hearings.

Arnold police said they used surveillance video from local businesses to identify the four men involved as Michael Todd Lasko, 27; Cory Thomas Liggins, 31; Jordan James Johnson, 24; and Gemayl Johnson, 35.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, a police officer was outside the city’s police station around 11:30 p.m. May 24 when he heard gunfire coming from the 1800 block of Fifth Avenue, about a block away.

The officer ran toward the gunfire. When he arrived, he could hear gunfire still being exchanged and saw people running in the street and through parking lots, but he didn’t see anyone carrying a weapon, the complaint said.

Police said they recovered five spent .380-caliber shell casings and 14 spent 9mm shell casings at Fifth Avenue and 18th Street, and another 12 spent shell casings that were possibly .223-caliber in a parking lot at 18th Street and Horne Boulevard.

The complaint said surveillance video from one camera appeared to show Liggins exchanging words with someone inside a passing Chevy Impala as he stood with Jordan Johnson and an unidentified man, while Lasko could be seen sitting inside a vehicle parked nearby.

As the Impala turned onto 18th Street, Liggins, Jordan Johnson and Lasko could be seen running through a parking lot toward Horne Boulevard with weapons in hand, the complaint said. Liggins and Johnson had handguns, while Lasko had a rifle, police said.

Footage from another camera appeared to show Jordan Johnson placing his gun on a porch in the 1800 block of Fifth after the shooting, and then walk past the responding Arnold police officer a short time later, according to the complaint.

Police said footage showed Gemayl Johnson retrieving that gun after police left the area and placing it in a nearby vehicle.

Footage from another camera appeared to show Liggins and Jordan Johnson opening fire as they stood at Fifth Avenue and 18th Street, striking at least one vehicle and causing its alarm to go off and sending people in the area running, the complaint said.

That camera also appeared to show Lasko getting behind a pickup and opening fire with his rifle before running away, the complaint said.

Another camera showed Liggins throwing an object that was later determined to be a gun onto the roof of a business.

Lasko, Liggins and Jordan Johnson face charges of aggravated assault, discharging a firearm into an occupied structure, reckless endangerment and firearms violations. Gemayl Johnson is charged with tampering with evidence and firearms violations.

Online court records showed that Lasko and Gemayl Johnson were being held in Westmoreland County Prison on Tuesday after failing to post bond, while Liggins and Jordan Johnson remained at large.