Police kill shooter in the Strip

Police were traveling in an unmarked police car.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Police killed a man in a gunbattle in Pittsburgh’s trendy Strip District in which one of the officers was also shot, authorities said Saturday.

David Price, 30, of Clearfield, was standing outside the Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant at about 10 p.m. Friday when two detectives approached in their unmarked police car on the way to a nearby gas station, assistant police Chief Maurita Bryant said Saturday.

Price threw a few items, apparently rocks, at their vehicle, prompting detectives George Satler and Tim Rush to stop the car and get out to investigate, Bryant said.

“The suspect raised his arm with a firearm and started shooting,” she said. “Detective Satler believes that one of the first shots was when he was hit and he was attempting to take cover, pulling his own firearm and returning fire.”

Patrons in the Spaghetti Warehouse reported hearing about 15 shots, Bryant said. Many believed it was part of the murder mystery show they were watching during dinner, she said.

“Even when the suspect went down, he actually continued to fire his weapon,” Bryant said. “Detective Satler was wounded initially, but he was able to return fire.”

Satler, who was shot in the lower back, has been released from the hospital. Bryant said a bullet remains lodged in his back and doctors do not plan to remove it at this time for fear that doing so would cause greater damage.

Bryant said it remains unclear what Price was doing in Pittsburgh on Friday. He was licensed to carry the .22-caliber Beretta he used to fire at the officers.

Price had lived in Mount Oliver, a suburb about four miles southeast of Pittsburgh, until about seven months ago, when he moved back to Clearfield County to be with his family, police said.

Bryant said Price had apparently been drinking with a friend elsewhere in the Strip District, though police do not know where, shortly before the shooting. Police are trying to figure out why Price opened fire on two men whom he apparently did not know were police officers.

“It was quick, automatic. The detectives opened the door, started to exit, the suspect raised the firearm and started shooting, and at that point, it was a matter of taking cover and returning fire,” Bryant said.

The two officers have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the district attorney’s office, as is standard practice.