PITTSBURGH (KDKA) –A couple waiting for a bus near a daycare center had a gun aimed at them.

This happened on Marshall Avenue in Perry Hilltop on Thursday and prompted a response from the SWAT team.

The couple told police the man tried to fire his weapon, but it jammed. He then ran into his house on Marshall Avenue where sharpshooters, negotiators and police dogs kept him surrounded.

“Prior to that, we had contact with his mother and several other relatives,” Pittsburgh Police Commander RaShall Brackney said. “It was very tenuous getting information from them at first.”

The suspect, 18-year-old Chavez Vera, surrendered to authorities without anyone getting hurt. His uncle said the family was trying to diffuse the situation and that Vera was supposed to continue in a juvenile program but stopped going.

“For the most part, good strong family network,” Clarence Samuel, Vera’s uncle, said. “He got in a little bit of trouble and he was doing a juvenile program which he got his GED and was doing well, he just didn’t want to go back.”

The couple told police a man fitting Vera’s description pointed a gun at them because they looked at him and he asked what they were looking at.

All of this unfolded in front of a daycare center.

“We got the kids to the other side of the building, made sure they were safe, made sure the guy was safe, called the police so they could get here,” one of the daycare workers said.

RELATED LINKS:
Pittsburgh Police
More Local News