Police seek to identify man in connection with Pittsburgh Airbnb shooting

Pittsburgh police are trying to identify a young man in connection with the fatal Easter shooting at an Airbnb party uptown.

Investigators stopped short of calling the man a suspect or person of interest, instead saying they were asking for help identifying him “in relation to” the April 17 killings.

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

The shots – at least 50 bullets fired inside and as many outside, police say – sent people running for cover, some jumping from windows to escape.

Two teenagers were killed: Jaiden Brown and Matthew Steffy-Ross, both 17 years old. Eight others were shot and five were injured 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 in the unit to turn the music down and warned of the consequences if the police were to return.

“There was nothing unusual to indicate anything was wrong,” Schubert said at the time. “We have information that shows many 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 did not say whether they knew who rented the Airbnb, but Ben Breit, a spokesman for the company, said renters had to be of legal age. 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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