City of Pittsburgh on high alert after word of ‘Downtown takeover’ spread online
The City of Pittsburgh is on high alert after students posted plans of a teen takeover Downtown tonight.
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Those posts planned the “takeover” for Friday after school.
Pittsburgh Public Schools warned parents about it this week with a robocall telling them it is not a school-sanctioned event, nor will there be supervisors.
City officials said they were working to prepare for any situation.
“It’s always better to be overly prepared than not. We understand there’s something on social media. We’ll see what happens. We still want people to come down and enjoy themselves if they’re coming Downtown tonight and we will do our duties as we usually do,” Mayor Corey O’Connor said.
Pittsburgh Police were also ready.
“We are there to keep things safe for everyone. If our young people want to come Downtown and have a great time and follow the rules, we will be there to keep them safe. But if you come Downtown and break the law, and make people feel unsafe, we are going to respond accordingly,” Police Chief Jason Lando said.
Some downtown businesses told their employees to either work from home today or go home early.
Last Sunday, dozens of teens came Downtown and began fighting with each other, and even sprayed one another with pepper spray.
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Seven kids were taken into custody.
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