Police: Off-Duty Officer Shot Jail Guard After Drinking 10 Beers

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- An off-duty Aliquippa officer is accused of shooting an Allegheny County Jail guard in Pittsburgh after an argument in a nearby bar.

According to a criminal complaint, the incident began at the Milestone Bar in Brentwood and spilled into the Carrick neighborhood shortly before 3 a.m. Thursday.

Responding officers found Kevin Miller suffering from a gunshot wound to the stomach on Stewart Avenue. When they asked if he knew who shot him, he replied: "he said he was a cop...a cop."  Miller was taken to UPMC Mercy Hospital and placed in the ICU with damage to his liver and colon. He is now in stable condition.

24-year-old Joshua Gonzalez approached officers at the crime scene and identified himself as the shooter.

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Gonzalez agreed to be interviewed and told police that while at Milestone Bar he had consumed approximately 10 beers. He said his girlfriend was involved in several fights while at the bar, which had to be broken up repeatedly.

Later, while his group was walking to their car, he said someone shouted at him from a porch and the fighting began again.

He told officers that during the fight, he saw Miller "pulling up his shirt and reaching into his waistband," which made him feel that his life was in danger. He fired one round from his personally-owned weapon at the victim, later identified as Miller. Gonzalez apologized for leaving the scene, explaining that he panicked.

When officers asked Miller whether he made any threatening movements, he said he did not and that he was "just yelling at him because he hit a girl." He additionally mentioned that he does not own a gun.

Gonzalez disclosed he had been employed by the Aliquippa Police Department for 5 months. The victim, Ken Miller, told police he had been employed at the Allegheny County Jail for the past 9 years.

Gonzalez is charged with aggravated assault.