All-Night, Sprawling Manhunt Leads To Capture Of Man Accused Of Fatally Shooting Officer
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The manhunt for the suspect in the fatal shooting of New Kensington Police Officer Brian Shaw intensified overnight as a team of officers began a hot pursuit.
They went searching from house to house across the city and the Mon Valley before finally cornering Holt and his accomplice in Hazelwood.
KDKA's Kym Gable Reports --
The intensive manhunt for 29-year-old Rahmael Sal Holt began shortly after 10 p.m. Monday at a row house on Kendron Street in Homewood. That's where law enforcement arrested Holt's mother, Sherry, for hindering her son's capture.
Police said Sherry Holt denied seeing her son after the shooting, but arrested her Monday night when she admitted she had. They took her to jail over the objections of her sister, Doreen.
"But she didn't know where her son was," said Doreen, "and I don't know why they're keeping her down there. She got a bad heart and everything."
- RELATED STORY: New Kensington Police Shooting Suspect Arrested In Hazelwood
From there, the team of law enforcement descended on a house in Duquesne. It was the home of Aysa Benson and Marcel Mason, who also denied having contact with Holt.
But under questioning, Benson admitted that Holt had been there on Saturday, and that she gave him a ride to a bus stop Downtown. Before he left, officials say Mason gave Holt a fresh pair of clothes.
Taking those two into custody for hindering law enforcement, police then rushed to Ladora Way in Hazelwood. It was in that location they learned that Mason's brother, Lateef, was harboring Holt.
Authorities then summoned the Pittsburgh SWAT team.
Surrounded by the FBI and the SWAT team, Lateef Mason and Holt called 911, saying they were willing to surrender. Then, using Lateef Mason as a shield, Holt merged from the house and turned himself over to police custody.
But despite strong evidence against him, Holt's aunt maintains her nephew's innocence.
"I know him since he came out of his mama's womb and he ain't never been a killer, not less on a policeman, and I feel for his family, too," said Doreen.
