Police Charge Three in Duquesne Shooting Case: Pittsburgh police have charged two men and one Duquesne sophomore woman for their involvement in the shooting of five Dukes players early Sunday morning. The police charged Brandon Baynes with five counts of criminal attempted homicide and also charged him with aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy and weapons violations. William Holmes faces those latter charges, too. Neither Baynes nor Holmes attends Duquesen. The attorneys and parents for Baynes and Holmes deny their involvement. Baynes’ attorney said he had attended the party with three friends, but they were not the shooter. The attorney said Baynes has identified to the police who he thinks the shooter is.
The police charged Brittany Jones, a Duquesne sophomore, with reckless endangerment because she let a group men into the party knowing that they had guns. Jones is an active member of Duquesne’s Black Student Union, which sponsored the Saturday night dance. The police may drop the charges against Jones if she cooperates and helps lead to the arrest and trial of the shooters.
At the dance, the gunman became incensed that his girlfriend joined other female groupies around the basketball players. He returned with friends who found the players outside a dormitory and opened fire. Sam Ashaolu remains in critical condition and is fighting for his life. The others will be OK, although Stuard Baldonado will almost certainly miss the entire season while rehabilitating his back. He was hit in the arm and lower back, narrowly dodging an injury that would have left him paralyzed. The other injured Dukes were Kojo Mensah, Shawn James and Aaron Jackson.
[9/20/06]
