Police: N. Side Boy Shoots, Kills Mt. Washington Bar Customer

Teenager Charged With Criminal Homicide After Late-Night Gunfire

POSTED: 11:55 am EDT July 15, 2008
UPDATED: 11:22 am EDT July 18, 2008

PITTSBURGH -- A 15-year-old North Side boy is in custody on a homicide charge connected to a late-night shooting death at a Mount Washington bar on June 19.

Gary Milligan was arrested by homicide detectives July 11, and his case was sent to trial after a preliminary hearing Friday morning. The trial date has not been set.

Brandon Alton, 23, of Arlington, was fatally shot when a fight broke out among several people at Sonny's Place on Shiloh Street just after midnight, police said.

"During the fight, a short black male with braids or dreadlocks pulled out a gun," said police Cmdr. Tom Stangrecki.

A homicide detective testified that Milligan told police he and two friends were waiting for food they ordered at the bar when Alton attacked one of the people who was with Milligan.

Then, two people who were with Alton joined in the fight, along with Milligan's friends, and Milligan pulled out a handgun and fired shots, the detective testified.

"The younger crowd, they start coming in, bringing friends or coming from somewhere else to just come here, and these things happen," said Alphonso Randolph, of the Mount Washington Community Development Corp.

Shortly after the shooting, the bar owners issued a statement which said this was the first such incident in more than 25 years of operation. They also said they met with community leaders and Pittsburgh police to discuss how to prevent it from happening in the future.

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