3 Pittsburgh students ambushed near school

Michael Winter | USA TODAY

Three students were shot and wounded Wednesday afternoon minutes after a Pittsburgh high school was dismissed for the day, police said.

Six "persons of interest" from two homes about a mile away were taken into custody for questioning, acting Police Chief Regina McDonald said at a news briefing two hours after the 2:50 p.m. shooting. A small child was also taken away.

The three boys suffered non-life-threatening injuries when they were ambushed near Brashear High School as they walked to their car, said Pittsburgh school district spokeswoman Ebony Pugh. Two are 17 and one is 16 years old.

Police spokeswoman Diane Richard said the shooting may have been retaliation for an Oct. 18 "incident" that put the school in lockdown for a week. She said the incident involved a fight and may have been drug-related.

Police reported that gunfire came from a wooded hill overlooking the school. There were conflicting reports on whether there was one gunman or possibly three shooters.

Witnesses said the shooter or shooters were dressed in black and retreated into woods around the school, Richard said. She could not confirm that the gunman or gunmen emerged from the woods.

One student was grazed in the head, another was hit in the leg and foot and the other was shot in the neck and shoulder, Richard said. None are talking to police, she added.

Their identities have not been released.

Richard said officials learned of the shooting when the student grazed in the head made his way back to the school and was pulled inside by an administrator.

Terri Minor said her 17-year-old nephew was shot in the neck. She said he and his two friends who were wounded were practicing for the basketball team.

About 1,400 students are enrolled at Brashear, the city's largest high school. The South Hills Middle School, with about 580 students, occupies a portion of the building.

Jacklyn Reft, a Brashear junior, told reporters she was at cheerleading practice when teachers and administrators came and took students to the library and then to rooms without windows. She estimated about 100 students were still in the school when they learned of the shooting.

"We all got into a little bit of a panic," she said. "There were some people crying when they found out who was shot."

Both schools will be open Thursday but will be on a modified lockdown for the rest of the week, Pittsburgh Public Schools superintendent Linda Lane announced. Modified lockdown means that only students, staff and visitors with a scheduled appointment may enter the building.

"We are taking this matter seriously and focusing on the safety of our students," she said in a statement. "Our thoughts go out to the families of the victims."