Man charged in fatal shooting
A Uniontown man was charged with homicide for allegedly shooting and killing a 20-year-old man Saturday evening. Uniontown police Detective Donald M. Gmitter said Jonathan A. Reyes, 22, of 18 Tuskegee Terrace was charged with a single count of criminal homicide for allegedly shooting Blaine Salutric of Uniontown.
According to Gmitter, Uniontown Police Department received a report of a male who had been shot in the side by another male at the Craig School Apartments on West Craig Street around 6:30 p.m.
Patrolmen Dave Rutter, Fred Kampert and Jamie Holland responded to the apartment and found a male, later identified as Salutric, lying on the floor with a single gunshot wound to the right side of his abdomen.
Gmitter said Salutric was unresponsive and was taken to Uniontown Hospital and then flown to UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh, where he died and was pronounced dead at 9:03 p.m.
An autopsy on Salutric’s body was performed Sunday at the Pittsburgh office of forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht.
Gmitter said Reyes told police that he, Salutric and Stephen Richardson of Uniontown, who resided in the apartment, had gone to a local restaurant to pick up pizza.
After returning to Richardson’s apartment, Reyes told police that Salutric walked into the kitchen to get a piece of pizza.
The criminal complaint filed in the case indicated that when Salutric walked out of the kitchen he was shot by Reyes, who told police he was allegedly attempting to secure his handgun in its holster while sitting down when the gun went off.
Gmitter said Reyes told police the gun discharged and that Salutric was shot as he walked past.
Reyes was taken to the police department where he was read his rights a second time and wrote a statement for police, Gmitter said.
Reyes was arraigned on the homicide charge before Magisterial District Judge Josephs M. George Jr. and placed in Fayette County Prison.