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Peduto: Pittsburgh Police Worried About Possible Retaliation Over Wilkinsburg Shooting

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- It's been nearly a week since that fateful night in Wilkinsburg when six people, including an unborn child, were killed in an ambush attack at a backyard cookout.

Police remain mum on any new details in the investigation.

But now the mayor of Pittsburgh is weighing in on the tragedy.

"When we see something so horrific like what happened in Wilkinsburg, something that we have not seen before, an entire family targeted, then we start to wonder what that retaliatory action could be and we start making preparations," said Mayor Bill Peduto.

Those preparations include Pittsburgh Police from Zone 5 reportedly working to prevent further violence.

That area was selected because some family members of the Wilkinsburg victims live nearby, and funerals, set to go into next week, can spark emotional reactions.

"This is the time period that we usually see retaliatory crime. It's during funerals and right after the funerals that these different cells start to go back and forth and fight," said Mayor Peduto.

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Police responded to a shooting Monday evening on Wheeler Street in North Homewood. The victim, 23-year-old Walli Hardy, was shot multiple times.

So far no arrests in this case either, but police did try to assess if there was any connection to the two cases.

"At this point it doesn't appear to, but it doesn't rule it out," Mayor Peduto said. "As soon as I heard the news, that was my immediate thought. My concern is on this retaliatory."

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