Pittsburgh police identify Western Psych gunman

Pittsburgh police today identified the gunman who opened fire Thursday at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC as John Shick of Oakland.

Police said Mr. Shick, 30, killed after police say he shot to death one person and wounded several others inside Western Psych, was armed with two 9mm semiautomatic handguns. He also carried two fanny packs containing sandwich bags that held unidentified pills.

He was wearing a T-shirt, jeans, a raincoat and two watches. Police said there was nothing on his person to suggest a motive.

The Allegheny County medical examiner's office has not confirmed the identity of the gunman, saying any finding was "unofficial" if it did not come from their office.

Late this afternoon, police were searching Mr. Shick's home in the Royal York Apartments on the corner of Bigelow Boulevard and North Dithridge Street in Oakland.

Scott Kunst, 43, said he lives three doors down from Mr. Shick's room on the fourth floor of the building. He and his fiance, Tracey Hilton, said they never knew him by name but when they saw his photo they had no doubt it was the "strange" man who lived down the hall.

Mr. Shick sometimes left yellow Post-Its on his door that said, "Now cleaning up vomit of pancreatitis. Please do not disturb," Mr. Kunst said. His room, which few people ever entered, often smelled like cleaning products, the pair said.

The building is home to many medical school students.

"We thought it was a med student joke," Mr. Kunst said of the notes.

That changed this week, when they said Mr. Shick acted strangely before asking someone in the building to call an ambulance and then vomited in the lobby.