Two shot on Franklin Avenue in Canonsburg
Police said two people were shot in Canonsburg late Thursday night after they went there to sell another man marijuana.
Canonsburg police Chief Al Coghill said late Friday afternoon police had identified a “strong suspect” but hadn’t yet filed charges in the shooting, which injured two about 11 p.m.
A search warrant obtained by state police said Jacob Kolick was driving a vehicle on the 500 block of Franklin Avenue. Maxwell Riley, Terris Ross and Emil Bajgoric were also in the car. Ross told police Kolick drove them to the residential area so they could sell a quarter ounce of marijuana, according to the warrant.
Police said a thin black man, of medium height and dressed in all black, approached the rear passenger door and got in the car, police said. Ross allegedly gave the man the marijuana and asked for money.
The man “reached in his pocket and pulled out a dark colored semi-automatic handgun,” the warrant states. He reportedly also said “I’m not playing,” just before Ross reached for the gun, grabbing it along with the man’s hand.
The man fired “two or maybe three shots” and started to get out of the car, police said. Kolick started driving, which caused the man to fall out of the car and drop the gun in the back seat of the vehicle.
Kolick then drove to the Gas N Go station on Euclid Avenue, where he threw the marijuana in a dumpster, and where Riley threw the gun “between some rocks,” according to the warrant. Ross went inside the building to call 911 for medical assistance for Kolick, who was shot in the back, and Bajgoric, who had been shot in the leg.
“As far as we know, they were both released today,” Coghill said.
He said someone at the gas station rendered aid to the victims until emergency crews could transport them to hospitals.
Coghill said the four people in the vehicle were between the ages of 18 and 23, and the people who were shot were not from the Canonsburg area.
State police and North Strabane Township police assisted at the shooting scene.