Pitt police issues crime report for “armed threat”

Pitt police issued a crime report Thursday at about 10:30 a.m. describing an “armed threat incident” that took place at 3250 Parkview Ave.

A maintenance employee at the Parkview Manor Apartments reportedly told Pitt police that an approximately 6-foot tall African American male wearing a dark-colored Pitt shirt and ball cap approached the employee at 8:15 a.m. requesting entry to the building. After the employee refused, the man reportedly showed the employee a gun in his waistband before fleeing on Parkview Avenue toward Swinburne Street.

The crime report as it was originally posted described the event as a “terroristic threat” rather than an “armed threat,” and was later updated with the new language.

The police departments are asking that anyone with information regarding the incident should call the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police at 412-422-6520 or Pitt police at 412-624-2121.

The incident occured the morning after the second of two similar incidents this week seemingly targeting women at night in Oakland. Two men chased a female Pitt student from near the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Ruskin Avenue to Ruskin Hall early Tuesday morning, according to a Pitt police crime alert. The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police responded to another suspicious incident Wednesday night after receiving 911 calls at about 9:50 p.m. The caller, a Point Park junior who lives on Atwood Street named Mary Malone, described hearing a woman calling for help and seeing an SUV drive away from Atwood Street on York Street.

In a Thursday press release, Pitt said it does not believe any of the incidents are related, but that investigations are still underway. The statement also described a commitment to change Pitt’s emergency notification procedures to keep students more informed.

“Per feedback from our Student Government Board, we are working to adopt a more proactive approach to crime alert communications. This may result in an uptick in alerts issued — including more notification of off-campus crime alerts,” the statement read.