Napper released; suspect arrested

Police have made an arrest in the Sept. 4 shooting of Pitt student Matthew A. Napper — and… Police have made an arrest in the Sept. 4 shooting of Pitt student Matthew A. Napper — and they did so just hours after Napper’s release from the hospital.

Michael A. Jones, 26, was arrested late Friday afternoon and arraigned on charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment of another person and violating the Uniform Firearms Act in Napper’s shooting.

Police learned of Jones’s alleged involvement through an anonymous tip, made in response to a composite sketch circulated by the media. Created by Officer Blase Kraeer of the department’s mobile crime unit, the sketch was in circulation for less than 24 hours before the tip was reported.

Jones, a Wilkinsburg resident, has a permit to carry the .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol police say he used in the shooting, according to Pittsburgh media reports. City Police could not confirm whether Jones had a permit.

Police also reported that Jones owns a dark Acura, which is the type of vehicle witnesses say the shooter was driving on Sept. 4.

According to police reports, a group of students, including Napper, were playing football in the middle of Atwood Street around 1:30 a.m., when a missed pass hit the Acura. The Acura driver reportedly vacated his vehicle and began to argue with some of the people on the street.

The argument escalated when the driver spat on a young woman. The driver then fired a single shot toward the ground, got into his car, and drove away. The shot deflected off the ground and hit Napper in the back, critically wounding him.

Napper is a fifth-year student studying history at Pitt.