Woman shot in the stomach in Brownsville, suspect in custody
A 62-year-old woman was flown to a hospital for emergency surgery after police said she was shot through the front door of a Brownsville house early Tuesday.
Kevin Alan Williamson, 32, of Brownsville was denied bail for allegedly firing the shot at about 12:45 a.m. at 305 Clover Street with a .22-caliber pistol. The victim, Ella Williamson, was flown to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, where she was listed in critical condition Tuesday morning. State police did not say how or if they are related. An update on her condition was not available Tuesday afternoon.
Joseph “Scooby” Brown, who lives at the house, told state police that Williamson was at his house shortly before the shooting, arguing with people inside. Williamson was told to leave, and then several bullets came through the front door, one which hit Ella Williamson, according to court documents. On Saturday, Williamson was at Brown’s house and got offended by comments people were making about his girlfriend, Brown told police. Williamson reportedly took a gun and fired shots in the air.
Brown told police Williamson drives a white Buick sedan and frequents the South Hills Terrace housing complex. State police found the car and Williamson at the housing development.
On the way to the state police station, Williamson reportedly told a trooper there would be gunshot residue on his hands because he had been shooting targets in the woods recently. At the station, he told police he was with Brown at 305 Clover Street. He said some guys from Pittsburgh were “messing with him,” police said, and he fired a gun through the door from the porch. He told police the Pittsburgh men started shooting at him as he was walking, and he threw the gun and fled.
Witnesses in the area told state police they heard the shooting, followed by a person shouting to “get in the car” and “go,” and saw a person fleeing. One witness described the suspect as a black male with a thin build wearing dark clothing and fleeing in a newer model Buick sedan. Another witness told police a black man with a black hooded sweatshirt and no teeth was sitting outside on a bench on Green Street, and told the witness he just shot a gun into a house, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed in the case.
Williamson was charged with attempted homicide, discharge of a firearm into occupied structure, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm prohibited, firearms not to be carried without a license, materially false written statement and recklessly endangering another person. He was arraigned Tuesday morning before Magisterial District Judge Mike Defino Jr., who denied bail in the case.
In May 2017, Williamson was sentenced to one year and six months to three years in prison for a burglary committed on Oct. 20, 2016 in Brownsville. He has also faced multiple charges for defiant trespass.