Shooting suspect captured
?A Uniontown man wanted on attempted homicide charges following a shooting in the early hours of April 24 in which two people were wounded has been captured.
Uniontown Capt. David J. Rutter said Thursday evening that Calvin Jay Huffman, 24, was captured late Thursday following a traffic stop in Churchill.
According to Uniontown police Sgt. Wayne Brown, Churchill police stopped a vehicle Huffman was traveling in and during the stop, Huffman provided police with a bogus name and age.
As police continued to investigate, they were able to determine Huffman’s identity and discovered the felony warrant issued out of Uniontown for his arrest, Brown said.
Brown said that when he was taken into custody, Churchill officers discovered Huffman was in possession of a brick of heroin as well as a bag of marijuana.
Additionally, officers observed that Huffman was suffering from two gunshot wounds.
“Officers saw that Huffman had suffered two gunshot wounds, one to his hand and another to his back that are believed to be from the shooting incident in Uniontown,” Brown said.
Detective Donald M. Gmitter said that investigators had confirmed as many as three different shooters in the incident and had also determined that Huffman had been struck by at least one round during the firefight.
Brown said Huffman was placed in the Allegheny County Jail on the warrant secured by Uniontown police as well as a warrant issued by state parole.
Brown said Huffman will face additional drug related charges in Churchhill.
In early May, Gmitter said police captured Autume Star Close, 24, of 37 Lebanon Ave., Uniontown, on charges she helped hide Huffman following the shooting.
Close was charged before Magisterial District Judge Jesse Cramer with three felony counts of hindering apprehension or prosecution, tampering with physical evidence, obstruction of law enforcement and failure to report injuries caused by a firearm.
Gmitter said that after Huffman shot Monique Curry and Patrick Samuel, both of Uniontown, outside the Splash bar at the intersection of Fayette Street and Feathers Avenue on the morning of April 24, Close provided a getaway vehicle for Huffman and then allowed him to hide at her residence.
Additionally, Gmitter said that Close tampered with and destroyed evidence from the shooting, but the specifics of that charge have not been revealed.
Gmitter said that the affidavits detailing all the charges against both Huffman and Close have been sealed in Fayette County Court.
However, Gmitter did divulge that investigators believe the dispute started inside the bar, erupting into a gunfight outside the establishment a short time later. The dispute allegedly involved a jacket and some cash, Gmitter said.
Dozens of shots were fired during the shootout, Gmitter said, and investigators learned that Huffman was likely using a fully automatic weapon during the incident.
Police were able to capture Close a week after the shooting after her car was stopped by police in an unrelated incident when her boyfriend was driving and later impounded.
Gmitter said Close, who was not aware that a warrant had been issued for her arrest, called police hours after the traffic stop involving her car and was taken into custody after she came to the police station to inquire further about the vehicle.
In the weeks that followed, Gmitter and other Uniontown officers scoured multiple locations across the region in an effort to locate Huffman who was considered armed and dangerous.
Gmitter said Huffman faces 11 charges as a result of the shooting April 24, including attempted homicide, two counts of aggravated assault, discharging a firearm into an occupied structure, illegal possession of a firearm, carrying a firearm without a license, three counts of simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and tampering with physical evidence.