PITTSBURGH -- While a makeshift memorial of balloons, cards and teddy bears grows, Pittsburgh police are trying to learn who shot a Hill District boy near a park where people were celebrating the Fourth of July with fireworks.
Malik Scott, 16, was pronounced dead at Robert E. Williams Memorial Park near the corner of Adelaide and Milwaukee streets late Saturday night.
Slideshow: Photos From The Crime SceneWhile many people were in the area, police have not been able to assemble enough details to identify a suspect.
"Allow this family some comfort in knowing you won't kill again because you have turned yourself in," said Roland Slade, of the
One Vision One Life anti-violence group.
Scott's friend, Charshonda Clay, said she was so shaken up that she couldn't sleep on Saturday night.
"I couldn't believe it," she said. "I just seen him, and then I got a call that he was dead."
Witnesses told Pittsburgh police that Scott was walking his dog in the upper Hill District neighborhood known as Sugar Top, after which he went to the park, where a crowd was celebrating Independence Day and shooting off fireworks.
Malik Lawson left the park at about 11:45 p.m. Minutes later, a loud sound was heard that wasn't a firework. He said he did not know Scott well but would see him every summer in the park.
"Fifteen minutes after we left, my family called and they said there was a shooting. I came up here, and we saw the body," Lawson said. "I come here to play basketball, and I always saw him up here playing basketball ... We were just shocked."
Slade acknowledged that coming forward as a witness can be hard to do, but "that should be the ultimate goal if you desire a safe community. Don't talk about what you're tired of until you are placed in that position. Unfortunately, with the volume of homicides, a lot of people have been placed in that position, and unfortunately a lot of people haven't been up to the task."
Scott was a "respectable" boy who attended Clayton Academy and wanted to be a truck driver, said his uncle, James.
"He wanted to see the countryside and see how big this world was, and I had a hand on helping him with that and, like, telling him how big outside of Pittsburgh is," James Scott said.
A stuffed teddy bear with a note that says "You are special" was among the items left at the scene of Malik Scott's death.
"That's hard," said Richard Garland, of One Vision One Life. "I mean, that's hard when you lose a baby."
Anyone who has information regarding this investigation is asked to call the Pittsburgh homicide squad at
412-323-7161.
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