Carnegie man to stand trial in 2011 shooting at South Fayette gun shop
A man accused of shooting a worker inside a South Fayette gun store more than six years ago will stand trial on all charges, including attempted homicide.
Stanley Patterson, 64, of 501 Hulton Road, Carnegie was held for court June 8 by District Judge Regis Welsh on charges of attempted homicide, robbery, aggravated assault, theft and illegal possession of a firearm. He is being held at the Allegheny County Jail after his $100,000 bond was revoked following the hearing.
Allegheny County police detectives said Patterson went into the Federal Firearms store at 5035 Thoms Run Road on June 8, 2011, and confronted the store worker, John Lukachyk, before shooting him once in the torso.
Police said the Patterson attempted to shoot Lukachyk again, but the handgun malfunctioned. He then took a firearm and left the scene, police said. Lukachyk suffered serious injuries, but survived.
Investigators did not give a motive in the shooting.
The case remain unsolved for several years until a green military-style vest, similar to what the shooter was seen wearing during the robbery, was found in the Chartiers Creek near Carnegie in September 2014. The vest contained what investigators said was the weapon used in the shooting, along with the gun stolen from the store. Patterson was also wearing a similar vest when Heidelberg police arrested him for driving under the influence three weeks after the shooting.
Patterson was a person of interest for other violent crimes in the Carnegie area. Police said he threw a Molotov cocktail at a Scott Township apartment building Dec. 17, 2015, destroying the structure. The residents escaped and no one was injured.
Police said he tried to throw a similar device into a business a few days later, but it did not burn the building.
Officers later executed a search warrant on his Carnegie home and found various weapons, ammunition, body armor and a wig, which tied him to the shooting at the South Fayette gun shop.
He is awaiting trial in Allegheny County on the arson and weapons charges.
Patterson is scheduled for an Aug. 9 formal arraignment on the charges related to the shooting.