PITTSBURGH – A knife-wielding man being chased after a fight ran into a Target store Monday, slashing two men and stabbing and seriously injuring a 16-year-old girl, authorities said.
The suspect ran into the store in the East Liberty neighborhood after a fight with several men down the street, police said.
Shortly afterward, the knife-wielding man was seen chasing one of his pursuers from a Target restroom, police spokeswoman Diane Richard said.
The man with the knife ran toward the checkout lanes and grabbed a teenage girl standing with family members, Richard said. He held the girl in front of him while brandishing the knife, she said.
Dominique Gomez, 21, of Wilkinsburg, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that the suspect was screaming that he had been robbed.
"It looked like he was holding her hostage," he said.
Police called shortly after 5:30 p.m. Monday used pepper spray to subdue the suspect, but the girl was cut in the back and arm. Two men were also injured, one with a cut on the lip and the other with deep cuts on his fingers, Richard said.
The girl was taken to Children's Hospital in critical condition, but police later said she had been upgraded to serious condition.
The suspect and a police officer were also taken to hospitals to be treated for pepper spray exposure. A bystander who complained of chest pains was also taken to a hospital.
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