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Police hope $20,000 reward will net leads in shooting case
Thursday, January 31, 2002 By Jonathan D. Silver, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Pittsburgh police yesterday continued their search for three masked gunmen who opened fire in a popular Homewood restaurant Friday night, killing their target along with a father and daughter who were there on a family outing.
Police have received numerous tips identifying the same people as the shooters, but as of last night, no arrests had been made.
Killed were Parrish L. Freeman, 35, his daughter, Taylor Coles, 8. Also killed was Thomas Mitchell, 31, who police say was the intended target of the shooting, which they believe was drug-related.
Some tipsters have claimed to be witnesses to the killings, but none has been willing to meet with a detective in person or pledge to testify, police said.
"We're following several leads, and some of the leads have seemed very, very promising, but they've come to dead ends," Assistant Chief William Mullen said. "We have to have someone come forward and testify."
Mullen said investigators believe some of the tips are authentic because callers are providing information that has not been released publicly.
Police continue to hope that the $20,000 reward being offered for information leading to the arrest of the shooters will entice a witness to come forward.
Terri Coles, the mother of Taylor and Freeman's longtime companion, has publicly pleaded for the community to help with the investigation.
The reward, one of the highest offered by the Pittsburgh Police Bureau, was Mullen's idea.
He said he decided to offer the money the morning after the attack because of the boldness of the crime, the fact that an 8-year-old girl was killed and the lack of information investigators initially had.
Mullen said part of the money will come from a police fund used to pay informants, and Mayor Tom Murphy has said the city will cover the remainder.
Beyond a general description of the size and build of the three gunmen and the fact that one wore a blue leather jacket with a white logo on the left chest, detectives have little solid information to go on. Investigators don't even know for certain whether a vehicle was used in the shooters' getaway.
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