Police: Alcohol, Exotic Dancers Fueled Out Of Control Grad Party
McKEESPORT (KDKA) -- It may have been a combination of alcohol and exotic dancer that resulted in mayhem in McKeesport Tuesday night when police say a graduation party got out of control and shots were fired.
Now, the adults who threw the party are under investigation.
Two-hundred to 300 young people, fueled - police say - by alcohol and exotic dancers, spilled out of a Renzie Park pavilion Tuesday before midnight in no mood to go home.
"They're all screaming and acting crazy," said Jack O'Neil, the park's security custodian. "They're peeling out of here speeding, going 60 miles an hour."
The one McKeesport officer on the scene called for backup, saying the crowd was out of control.
As the other officers arrived, O'Neil says shots were fired into one of the cars.
"I'm walking down, I hear like 12 shots take place, and the car went crashing down through the senior citizen's gate," he said.
Responding police set up a perimeter and swept the area, finding a handgun.
They later discovered 21-year-old Brandon Murphy hiding some bushes. They've charged him with attempted homicide, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault.
A short time later, a young man showed up at UPMC McKeesport Hospital with gunshot wounds to the stomach and hands. He was flow by STAT Medivac helicopter to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, but his wounds are not life-threatening.
Police, however, have other concerns.
Chief Bryan Washowitz says there was alcohol inside the pavilion and what he called suggestive female dancers performing on the stage.
The chief tells KDKA's Andy Sheehan that the organizers of the party are now under investigation and face potential charges of corrupting the morals of minors.
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