Mt. Lebanon, PA (PPP)— Police are investigating an incident that occurred on January 1, 2022, where multiple shots were fired from a pistol into the hillside behind an apartment building on Mt. Lebanon Blvd. Witnesses reported that two males, one white and one black, both in their twenties, were responsible for the gunfire. The black male had dreadlocks, and the white male was wearing a camo hoodie.

According to witness 1, the men were casually talking about New Year’s Eve and how they needed to pick up the casings after they were done. One of them said they needed to collect the shell casings because he is out on bond and didn’t want his fingerprints to be found on a casing.

The police found a shell casing at the scene and identified a bullet hole in the railing of a deck at 116 Rock Haven Ln. They also found a tree several feet up onto the hillside with several bullet holes in it.

During the investigation, license plates from vehicles parked in the area were documented, and witness 3 informed officers that the black male with dreadlocks lives at ███ Mt. Lebanon Blvd in an unknown apartment.

Further investigation led police to run a check on a Ford Fusion bearing PA registration ██████, parked in front of ███ Mt. Lebanon Blvd, which is registered to Michael Maurice Franklin. They found that he does have a concealed carry permit through Allegheny County and owns a 9mm handgun.

On January 10, 2022, the shell casing collected on scene was submitted to the PA State Crime Lab in Greens burg, Pa for fingerprint analysis. The police received information that the Brentwood PD conducted a traffic stop and arrested Franklin on separate charges. During the arrest, they seized two firearms that were recovered on Franklin, including a Beria 9mm SN:K47060.

The Beria pistol K47060 was identified as having been discharged in the incident that occurred on January 1, 2022, and is the firearm used in the shooting.

Name: Michael Franklin, Jr.
Gender: Male
Age: 26

Agency: Mt. Lebanon Police Department

Court: Magisterial District Court 05-2-19
Docket Number: MJ-05219-CR-0000040-2023
Date Filed: February 24, 2023

Criminal Charges

1. Discharge Firearm into Occupied Structure, F3
2. Recklessly Endangering Another Person, M2

Affidavit of Probable Cause
The Affiant is a twelve-year police officer in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I am in the Investigations Unit of the Mt. Lebanon Police Department. I am also assigned as a Task Force Officer deputized under FBI (HIDTA) and work in conjunction with the Allegheny County Narcotics and Intelligence Unit (NVI). I am empowered by law to conduct official investigations and make arrests for offenses enumerated in the Pennsylvania Crimes Code, 18 PA C.S., Pennsylvania vehicle code 75 PA C.S., and Controlled Substances, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act, Act 64. I have received specific training in the methods of Narcotics Investigations from the FBI, DEA, PSP and North East Counter Drug Training Center. I have completed the PSP TOP GUN training. I have previously investigated and have been involved in the prosecution of offenses as the ones contained herein.

On Saturday, 1 January 2022, at approximately 0219 hours, MLPD units were dispatched to the area of 112 Rock Haven Lane, for the report of possible shots fired in the area. En route to the call, Dispatch advised that the complainant stated the shots possibly came from behind his house, at the back of one of the apartment buildings on Mt. Lebanon Blvd.

Multiple witnesses’ were identified in this incident. They were identified on scene by MLPD officers and their names are documented outside of this affidavit. They will be referred to as “witness” and the corresponding number in which the officers spoke to them.

Upon arrival MLPD units checked the rear of ███ Mt. Lebanon Blvd. While searching the area on foot, witness 1, from ███████ spoke to them from his window. Witness 1 stated two males, one white and one black, just walked away after shooting multiple rounds from a pistol into the hillside behind the apartment building. He stated one of the males shot 5-6 rounds from the gun into the hillside, and after a minute or so the other male shot a few rounds into the hillside. Witness 1 said both males used the same pistol to shoot into the hillside. Witness 1 added they were casually talking about New Year’s Eve and how they needed to pick up the casings after they were done. Witness 1 related one of them said they needed to collect the shell casings because he is out on bond and didn’t want his fingerprints to be found on a casing. He described the males as being in their twenties with the black male’s hair in dreadlocks.

Cpl Culp spoke to the complainant who stated while upstairs in his bedroom he heard 5-6 gun shots outside towards the rear of his house. He said there was a break for a minute or so, and then there was 2 or 3 more gunshots before they stopped.

Witness 2 stated that he heard multiple gun shots coming from the area behind the apartment building. He said when the shots stopped, he looked outside the building and observed a white male and a black male walk to the front of his building and go in via the front door. Witness 2 added the front door is always locked and a key must be used to open it. He said the black male had dreadlocks and the white male was wearing a camo hoodie.

While searching the parking lot area behind ███ Mt. Lebanon Blvd, a shell casing was located in the immediate area where witness 1 said the males were shooting into the hillside. The casing was a 9mm Luger shell casing, and was on the pavement, near parking space #18. After it was photographed, Cpl. Shell collected it and later placed it into evidence at the MLPD. Cpl Nolte and Lt Patrus went up onto the hillside to check for more evidence. Cpl Nolte located a tree several feet up onto the hillside, that appeared to have several bullet holes in ii. He took photographs of the tree and they were later uploaded to the MLPD database. The house directly behind ███ Mt. Lebanon Blvd was identified as 116 Rock Haven Ln. Lt Patrus observed a bullet hole in the railing of the deck at that residence, and inside the hole was a bullet. The damage to the deck was fresh. After photographing it, Cpl Nolte collected the bullet and it was later placed into evidence. The residence was occupied during this incident.

As part of the investigation, license plates from vehicles parked in the area were documented. During that time witness 3 informed officers that the black male with dreadlocks lives at ███ Mt. Lebanon Blvd in an unknown apartment. During the investigation, a Ford Fusion bearing PA registration ██████ was parked in front of ███ Mt. Lebanon Blvd. The vehicle is registered to Michael Maurice Franklin with a registered address of █████████ Pittsburgh, PA 15236. Franklin’s OMV picture matches the description given by the witnesses. The NCIC query showed that Franklin does have a concealed carry permit through Allegheny County. A check of the ALPR’s show that his vehicle passed by the camera at Mt. Lebanon Blvd @ Castle Shannon Blvd at approximately 0211 hours. The dispatched time for this incident was 0219 hours. An all firearms owned for Franklin was run through County Dispatch. It showed that he owns a 9mm handgun.

On January 10, 2022, Lt. Det. Hyslop submitted the shell casing collected on scene to the PA State Crime Lab in Greens burg, Pa for fingerprint analysis.

I received information that the Brent wood PD conducted a traffic stop and arrested Franklin on separate charges. During the arrest, they seized two firearms that were recovered on Franklin. A Beria 9mm SN:K47060 and GLOCK 19 GEN 5 9mm SN:BNZL918.

Brent wood PD sent both firearms to the Allegheny County Crime Lab for analysis.

On January 24, 2023, the shell casing collected from Mt. Lebanon Blvd. was submitted to the Allegheny County Crime Lab for analysis.

On January 30 and 31 of 2023, Laboratory Manager Raymond Everett completed a Firearm and Tool mark section report. I obtained a copy of this report on Feb. 22, 2023. Everett stated the following for Item A in the report; -Item 1A- One spent 9mm caliber cartridge case- The cartridge case matched the test cartridge cases of and was identified as having been discharged by a 9mm caliber Beria pistol, serial number K47060. The itemized table below lists the incidents involving the Beria pistol.

The Beria pistol K47060 is the pistol seized from Franklin.

Due to the above facts and circumstances, I believe probable cause exists to obtain an arrest warrant for Michael Franklin with 1 count of Pa title 18 section 2707.1 Discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure (F3) and 1 count of Pa title 18 section 2705 Recklessly endangering another person (M2).