Larry O'Neill, for the Post-Gazette Police help the shooting victim on Smithfield Street between Forbes and Fourth avenues yesterday. Click photo for larger image.
	V.W.H. Campbell Jr., Post-Gazette Pittsburgh police homicide detective James McGee (l) and Lt. Kevin Kraus (r) examine evidence at the scene of the shooting on Smithfield Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues. Click photo for larger image.
	V.W.H. Campbell Jr., Post-Gazette Collecting evidence at scene of shooting. Click photo for larger image.
	Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette Pittsburgh Police Lt. Kraus (l) and Commander Thomas Stangrecki (r) talk to Mayor Luke Ravenstahl about the incident. Click photo for larger image.

A gunman walked up to a man on busy Smithfield Street yesterday morning and shot him multiple times in front of horrified witnesses on their way to work.

The 28-year-old victim from the Hill District survived, but police were not releasing his name or any information about him yesterday.

The incident created chaos on the street. For some, such a brazen attack on a crowded thoroughfare near Point Park University immediately brought to mind Monday's massacre at Virginia Tech.

The university ordered a lockdown at the Downtown campus, but took the extra step of sending out a general e-mail about the shooting, a move officials said was prompted by what happened at Virginia Tech.

The shooting victim was in critical condition at Mercy Hospital with wounds to the torso after the gunman stood over him and shot him repeatedly. Initial reports had him shot seven times, including at least twice in the chest. "He was alert and he was talking," said Major Crimes Lt. Kevin Kraus. "We hope to conduct a more thorough interview when he gets out of surgery."

Cmdr. Thomas Stangrecki, head of major crimes, said the victim was not able to relay any information at the scene about who shot him.

But based on witness statements, police were searching yesterday for a suspect described as black, muscular, about 6 feet tall, with dreadlocks and possibly a full beard.

He was wearing either a dark blue or black trenchcoat or similar long coat and driving a blue Subaru with license plate GMC-0958 stolen in the city the day before.

The shooting took place at 8:40 a.m. on the sidewalk in front of Apparel Warehouse at 409 Smithfield, a few doors down from Brightside Academy day-care center.

A rampaging gunman was Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's initial fear when he heard about the shooting after attending the groundbreaking for a new library in the Hill District.

"I want to assure the public that this is an isolated incident," he said at the scene after firefighters had washed down the sidewalk.

"Police believe it is a targeted shooting. There are a lot of witnesses who are cooperating. Despite this today, we are one of the safest cities in America."

Daylight shootings Downtown are rare. The most recent similar incident detectives could recall happened in July 2004 when two men engaged in a gun battle in Fifth Avenue's business district, sending crowds scrambling for safety.

In yesterday's shooting, Lt. Kraus said, the gunman was "obviously looking for the victim."

The suspect parked his car on Fourth Avenue and approached a man who was talking on a pay phone in front of Apparel Warehouse.

The gunman held him at gunpoint for several seconds. But when the man turned around, the gunman realized he had the wrong target, apologized and let him go. The man ran off and later called police.

After that exchange, the gunman returned to his car for several minutes to lay in wait for the real victim and spotted him about five minutes later.

Witnesses indicated he grabbed the man, shot him and kept shooting as he fell to the ground.

"All the witnesses said he stood over top of him and continued to fire," said Lt. Kraus.

One man who saw the incident said "it looked like he took all the shots to the chest." The gunman fired nine times in all. One slug was found a block away in front of Macy's.

Detectives are reviewing surveillance video from several cameras in the area and interviewing many witnesses.

One witness, Spencer Hatherly of Carrick, said he heard three or four gunshots as he walked up Smithfield, then saw a man staggering backward on the sidewalk, where he collapsed.

"He tried to pull up, but he lost all his energy. He tried to [keep] himself from falling," said Mr. Hatherly.

As the shooting erupted, panicked witnesses fled into the Quick Stop convenience store at the corner of Smithfield and Fourth, according to clerks there.

"We brought everybody in here and locked the door. Everybody was screaming. It was really horrible," said Elaine Keil.

An oncoming Port Authority bus stopped half a block short of the shooting as it took place. Mr. Hatherly said some people began to run, and some parents quickly rushed their children into the nearby day-care center.

Port Authority spokesman Bob Grove said drivers of buses near the scene allowed passengers to get off rather than staying on buses once the scene was secured.

Several buildings in the area shut down while the investigation developed.

Point Park University partially locked down its buildings until 10 a.m., when the university received confirmation that the gunman had left the area.

Angela J. Burrows, senior director of marketing and public relations, said the university locks down whenever there is a shooting near the campus. This was the third time that's happened in the past year-and-a-half, she said.

But this time the university also sent out an e-mail alerting the campus to the shooting and the fact that the gunman had left the area.

That measure, said Ms. Burrows, was in response to the Virginia Tech massacre.

"More information is always better than none," she said.

Sarah Horn, director of marketing for the day-care center, said the center usually cares for 165 children but yesterday handled only about 90 because some parents took their kids home or didn't come because of the shooting.

The building remained locked down, but children were having a normal day. "Right now the atmosphere inside is happy," said Ms. Horn.

She said none of the children saw the shooting, just the "hubbub" afterwards.