SYRACUSE -- Police in Syracuse are still looking for a suspect after a deadly shooting on the city's west side Monday morning. The shooting set off what appeared to be a standoff nearby.
Officers say 23 year old Pierre Hackett, of Lydell Avenue in Syracuse, was walking with two children and a man on Merriman Avenue near Kellogg Street shortly before noon when he was shot. The children and the other man were not hurt.
"I was very surprised, because none of that ever happened around here," said Mary Fiffe who lives in the neighborhood. "There are people running around here with guns and there are innocent kids around."
Investigators tell CNY Central witnesses reported seeing someone with a handgun run into a house on Grace Street. Police surrounded the house, and negotiators tried to make contact with whoever might be inside. When they couldn't make contact, the SWAT team was called in. When they entered the house, they discovered no one was inside. Police say they took the situation very seriously because it happened in a neighborhood. Several nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution.
Betty Stevens lives on Grace St. and came home to see heavily armed officers on her block. "I was not allowed down there until SWAT cleared out of the area," she said. "It was very scary."
Both the shooting scene and the home on Grace Street are east of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, and just a few blocks away from Delaware Elementary School.
So far police do not have anyone in custody in the shooting. However, they say it happened in the middle of the street, and expect people did see something. If you have any information, call Syracuse Police at 442-5222. All tips will remain confidential.
