On the morning of April 4, 2009, 36-year-old Pittsburgh Police Officer Paul John Rizzo Domenic Sciullo, II responded with a partner to a domestic disturbance in the Stanton Heights neighborhood. Upon entering the house around 7:00 AM, Officer Sciullo was ambushed and fatally shot by a man armed with a shotgun who was wearing a bullet-resistant vest.

The shooter then left the house and engaged other officers, firing an AK-47. Officer Stephen Mayhle was killed after returning fire, and off-duty Officer Eric Kelly, who came to assist, was also mortally wounded; he managed to radio for assistance before dying at a hospital. A prolonged, four-hour standoff followed in which over 100 rounds were fired before the suspect, wounded in the legs and vest, surrendered and was arrested.

The suspect was charged with three counts of aggravated homicide and assault, and on June 28, 2011 was convicted and sentenced to death. Did anyone in Stanton Heights that morning see something that could shed more light on how the situation began?