Newly installed surveillance cameras help Jeannette police make arrest after shots fired

A Jeannette man is being held without bail after city police said he fired a gun Saturday behind Columbia Court.

Rashaad Ricardo Shepard, 41, is charged with weapons violations, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Police were called just before 6 p.m. to investigate a report of shots being fired. They found Shepard, who first said he fired a gun because he was being attacked, then later said he was shot at, according to court papers.

No one on Columbia Court would provide information to police and Shepard was released.

To make an arrest, investigators relied on surveillance footage from a camera recently installed near the Jeannette EMS station, police Chief Shannon Binda said.

In the video, police said Shepard was seen fighting with another man, getting a handgun from inside his house and waving it around. Police said Shepard fired several shots toward the man and then another person appeared to pick up shell casings from the street, according to court papers.

Police did not find any casings in the street.

Officers returned to Columbia Court after 9 p.m. with a search warrant. Police said they seized a handgun and two crack pipes from the home. Shepard is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison. An Aug. 20 preliminary hearing is set. He did not have an attorney listed in online court records.

His criminal history in Westmoreland County dates back to at least 1996, according to online court records.

In recent years, the police department has used funds seized during drug arrests to purchase and set up cameras in several parts of town. The cameras have been “indispensable,” Binda said.

“They put eyes in a lot more places,” he said.