Police Search Western Psych Gunman's Apartment

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A couple who lived near the man police have identified as the gunman in the Western Psych shooting describe him as "weird."

Scott Kunst and Tracey Hilton live three doors down from 30-year-old John Shick's apartment in the Royal York Apartments in North Oakland.

"It's very frightening," said Kunst. "I looked out the window here a few hours ago and saw all the media, and the moment "I saw it, I knew. I called her: 'I bet it's the guy. I bet it's the guy in our hall.'"

They say Shick moved in last fall and that his apartment smelled of cleaning supplies.

"He would engage in some conversation but it wasn't... It was a little distant. His eyes seemed a little glazed," said Kunst.

They took a picture of a sign they say Shick would put on his door frequently. It reads: "Now cleaning up vomit of pancreatitis. Please do not disturb."

"We thought it was a medical student joke," said Kunst. "There's a lot of medical students in the building."

But then on Wednesday, a day before the shooting, they say Shick called 911 for an ambulance.

"Then when we were told he vomited in the hall on the way out Wednesday in the lobby, we thought maybe he is sick," said Hilton.

That's the same day she got a warning.

"The person in the building said, 'Watch out for him. He's on your floor. He's weird.'"

Police detectives removed what appeared to be a computer from Shick's apartment. KDKA has learned that Shick may have had extensive plans concerning the shooting, including maps and diagrams.

"You think that there's mental illness in the world," said Kunst. "But you don't think someone's capable of doing that."

RELATED LINKS:
STORY: Victim Worked As Therapist At Western Psych (3/9/12)
STORY: Mayor: Western Psych Shooter Had 2 Guns, Acted Alone (3/8/12)
STORY: Sources: Western Psych Shooter Had No ID (3/8/12)
LINK: Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic
VIDEO: Western Psych Shooting Press Conference
PHOTO GALLERY: Shooting At Western Psych Leaves 2 Dead, Several Injured
MORE: Other Related Stories