Suspect in custody after shooting spree kills 2, injures 3

Police identified the suspect as Ronald Taylor, 39

March 1, 2000
Web posted at: 9:58 p.m. EST (0258 GMT)

In this story: Shots fired at 4 locations 'You watch this in the movies, not in real life' 'Mommy ... there's man in the building with a gun' Clinton says legislation needed to stop shootings RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports.

WILKINSBURG, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Police say they do not know why a man went on a shooting spree Wednesday in suburban Pittsburgh, killing two men and critically wounding three other people, before surrendering to authorities after a standoff.

Police identified the gunman as Ronald Taylor, 39.

"I'm already dead anyway," Taylor told police several times during the standoff, according to Wilkinsburg Police Chief Gerald Brewer.

AUDIO Listen to witnesses recount the shooting. 163K/15 sec. AIFF or WAV sound    VIDEO Reporter Deborah Feyerick reports on the shootings in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. Windows Media 28K 80K   INTERACTIVE Recent multiple shootings in the U.S.   MESSAGE BOARD Mass shootings

The chief said the suspect put a gun in his mouth several times and at other times pointed it at the officers during negotiations at the Penn West Building, which houses adult and child day care centers and a doctor's office.

At one point, Taylor was in a room with four or five people in wheelchairs. Brewer declined to call the people hostages, pending further investigation. He said none was harmed, although one of the men reported experiencing chest pains.

However, one witness, a woman, said the gunman had threatened to kill a hostage. She told CNN affiliate WPXI that the man said, "I have one bullet left; I'm going to use it."

The shooting spree began about 11:15 a.m. EDT in Wilkinsburg, about nine miles east of Pittsburgh, in western Pennsylvania. Police arrested the suspect nearly three hours later.

Brewer said the outbreak started at the gunman's apartment, where he shot a maintenance man and then started a fire. Police arrived to find the apartment engulfed in flames.

"Possibly five to six minutes later, we got information there was a gunshot victim at the Burger King restaurant on Penn Avenue," the police chief said.

"Almost immediately, we got information at the McDonald's that there were multiple gunshot victims there," Brewer said. "I realized at that point somebody was out there that we needed to stop."

Brewer said the gunman shot one victim in the McDonald's parking lot, entered the restaurant and shot someone behind the counter and then walked out and shot a third person in a vehicle in the drive-thru lane.

A woman at the scene said her stepfather, Richard Clinger, was the man shot in the parking lot.

"Me and my stepfather were sitting in the truck, and this guy just walked up and started shooting," said Candy Zambo, who was unhurt. "I thought maybe he was going to ask for directions or something. He just turned and walked into McDonald's."

Tony Elhaja, manager of a Dunkin' Donuts next to the McDonald's, said the daughter of the man shot in the parking lot entered his store to wait for police.

"She ran inside and was crying," Elhaja said.

Four of the victims were taken to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and a 65-year-old man was taken to Mercy Hospital with a critical gunshot wound to the head. Two of the victims died in the hospitals; three remain in critical condition.

Brewer said when police spotted the suspect he fired two rounds at officers, who did not return fire. The gunman then ran into the Penn West Building, which the officers sealed off.

Police immediately evacuated some of the occupants of the four-story brick building, but Brewer said officers were unable at first to enter the third floor, where some 36 children were trapped in a day care facility.

During the standoff, Janet Lukisch was hiding on the second floor of the building at a home health care business where she and others "called our family members and friends and let them know we were OK."

As police negotiated with the gunman, Lukisch talked with her fiancee, Don Treser.

"They're OK," Treser said of Lukisch and the others in the office. "This is awful. You watch this in the movies, not in real life."

Some children and adults in the area were escorted to safety by police dressed in body armor and holding protective shields.

"My oldest daughter came out and just hugged me and just said, 'Mommy, I'm happy to see you -- there's man in the building with a gun,'" said Carla Kinsel.

"I was just thinking about the man shooting our kids, him keeping them hostage, anything, all types of things were going through my head," she said.

Taryn Harris said her 2- and 5-year-old daughters remained inside the day-care center before the suspect surrendered. "They said they were OK. They just can't come out," Harris said.

Law enforcement officers -- including SWAT team members, state police and FBI agents -- converged on the site. Brewer credited a SWAT team sergeant with talking Taylor into surrendering.

President Clinton mentioned the shooting -- and Wednesday's fatal shooting in Michigan of a 6-year-old girl by a 6-year-old boy -- before an afternoon speech in Virginia.

"We owe the families of the victims and the communities our prayers and our best wishes," the president said.

"As citizens, these incidents -- particularly the one yesterday in Michigan -- call on us to recognize the fact that we simply haven't done everything we can do to keep guns away from criminals and children," Clinton said.

He also made a personal appeal to lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

"You have had legislation now that would require child safety locks, would close the gun show loophole and take other steps to keep guns out of the wrong hands for well over six months," Clinton said.

"You're supposed to take a recess next week. Before you take the recess, please send me this legislation -- it will help keep America safer," he said.

CNN Pittsburgh affiliate WPXI and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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University of Pittsburgh Presbyterian Hospital
Mercy Hospital

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