PITTSBURGH — A victim of the mass shooting in East Liberty last month is speaking out for the first time.
Charles George reached out to Chief Investigator Rick Earle after he ran into trouble while attempting to get some of his personal items back from Pittsburgh Police.
They had taken his wallet, keys, shoes and some other items as evidence after the shooting.
George, who was still in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound to the hip, told Earle he needed those items to get into his apartment and to pay his bills.
Earle reached out to police immediately after George contacted him last month, and police returned his items the very next day.
The shooting on the evening of June 23, just before midnight, wounded five people and injured ten others.
RELATED COVERAGE >>> Multiple shot, nearly a dozen others injured in East Liberty mass shooting
George, 61, a retired grandfather, recalled the harrowing moments when shots rang out as he was walking through Garland Park in East Liberty that night in June on the way to his brother’s house. He was an innocent bystander
“Terrified. I couldn’t move. I thought he was going to come finish me off,” said George, while sitting in his wheelchair outside of his apartment in McKeesport Tuesday morning.
He was walking from a friend’s house to his brother’s home, and said people were out playing basketball and listening to music.
George was shot in the hip. He also fractured his shoulder when he fell to the ground.
Earle: Did you know what was going on when you were hit? Did you know it was gunfire?
George: After I fell. He kept shooting. I’m hoping I don’t die because I don’t know where I got hit at, because I don’t feel nothing, and I see other people falling. It happened so fast. I was already on the ground, but he kept firing.
Earle: Did you think you might not make it?
George: I did. I was on that ground, crying for God and everything.
Earle: He listened to you. He answered your prayers.
George said he heard about 15 gunshots.
In all, 15 people suffered injuries. Some were grazed by bullets and treated at the scene. Others were injured in the chaos.
Five people, including George and two teenagers, were hit by bullets.
Miraculously, no one was killed.
George showed Earle the location on his thigh where doctors removed the bullet.
“That’s where they got the bullet out,” George said.
Days after the shooting, George, who was still recovering in the hospital, reached out to Earle for help retrieving his wallet, keys and shoes from police.
Earle contacted police and they quickly returned the items.
“I would have never got it if I wouldn’t have called you. Somebody told me to call him, see what he can do, and I appreciate that,” George said.
George, who still needs a wheelchair to get around, had a rod placed in his hip.
He’s been in and out of the hospital and rehab for the past month.
But he’s determined to walk again, and he’s just thankful it wasn’t worse.
Earle: You could have been killed?
George: Exactly what I told my daughter. He [the doctor] said just this much [several inches], and it would have been up here.
Earle: This much and you might not be here today.
George: It would have been up in here.
Earle: We are glad you are okay. We’re glad you got your stuff back. You got everything back?
George: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Rick.
Earle: You are quite welcome. I’m glad you are okay.
Pittsburgh police arrested an 18-year-old that night, but he has not been charged in connection with the shooting.
Earle reached out to police on Tuesday and they said the investigation is active and ongoing, and hinted there may be some new developments soon.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
