Cranberry police still seeking two suspects in drug shooting
CRANBERRY TWP — Police say they still have not identified two of three men suspected in a marijuana rip-off last week during which a man was shot.
The alleged shooter, Kahlil Tavarus Shelton, 23, of Duquesne, Allegheny County, remains behind bars, but he's reportedly not talking.
A felon, he faces a list of charges with the top count being attempted homicide.
According to charging documents, Shelton and his accomplices, who are from out of county, were at the house “negotiating the purchase of a large amount of marijuana for $2,500 to $15,000.”
Along with the suspects and victim, also in the house were two other men, who police in court documents only identified as ”witness #1” and “witness #2,” and a 6-year-old boy.
Cranberry police Sgt. Chuck Mascellino said one of the witnesses was living at the rental home at the time. The other witness, from Westmoreland County, accompanied the victim.
Once Shelton got there, police said, he went to the bathroom. When he came out, he was holding a pistol, and fired a single shot into the floor of the kitchen, where the suspected drug deal was playing out.
In the kitchen, documents said, Shelton held the gun in the faces of the victim and the other witness. One of the unknown suspects opened a back pack, which the witness saw contained a handgun.
That same suspect “began stealing approximately one pound of marijuana,” according to a police affidavit, “that was on the kitchen counter.”
About the same time, the victim ran toward the front door in a bid to get away. Shelton fired a shot that struck the victim in the right arm, police said. The slug passed through his arm and entered the side of his body.
Shelton subsequently held his gun in the face of the witness who had been in the living room while the boy ran into a bedroom and hid.
All three suspects eventually ran out of the house and drove away in a silver car. They made off with at least a pound of marijuana.
Shelton was later arraigned on felony charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, illegal possession of a fireman, possession of a firearm without a concealed carry license, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and criminal use of a communication facility.
A full report will appear in the Butler Eagle.
