Details of city shooting released | News, Sports, Jobs

The two city men charged with attempted murder following a shooting Saturday night were looking for drugs, according to court documents available Monday. The report also says the shooting victim was treated at UPMC Altoona before being transferred to UPMC Pittsburgh for surgery. The 46-year-old victim reportedly suffered a dislocated jaw and severe blood loss as a result of the shooting, the report said.

The suspected shooter, Benjamin Lee Merritts, 27, told police he went to the home in the 1300 block of North Fourth Avenue to get drugs because he said it was a known drug house. As he approached the home, Merritts said he saw the victim and asked if he could deliver him some meth, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Merritts agreed to give the victim $50 for methamphetamine, but the victim took the $50, told Merritts he had “cheated” him and walked away with the money without giving him the drugs, the report said.

Merritts told police he became angry, pulled a Glock 19 Gen 5 from his waistband and shot the victim approximately three or four times, the affidavit states. He said he believed he hit the victim twice in the back and once in the face.

Cain

Merritts said he was walking up North Fourth Avenue when he heard police sirens and saw police vehicles coming, so he threw the gun into the grass near the fence next to the storage area.

The second man charged in the shooting, 38-year-old James Alvin Cain Jr., did not provide much information, according to the police report, but admitted he was with Merritts and wanted to buy methamphetamine for his girlfriend.

Police were called to the home around 11 p.m. Saturday and found the victim with bullet holes in each cheek, the report said.

A witness told police he and his mother were looking after an empty apartment and no one was allowed to be in the apartment. The victim said he heard arguing coming from the area around the empty apartment and then what sounded like gunshots. Shortly afterward, the victim showed up at the witness' door asking for help, the witness reported.

In the video footage provided by the witness, the victim can be seen arriving at the scene and meeting another tenant in the building. At around 10:56 p.m., a large group of people are standing outside and at 10:57 p.m., two “popping noises” are heard, as seen in the video footage.

The victim then enters the camera's field of view and several people can be heard yelling, “They shot him,” the report states. At 10:58 p.m., two men, identified as Merritts and Cain, can be seen walking away from the scene and toward a line of trees.

When police entered the empty apartment, they noticed a dandruff containing a white, powdery substance. Additionally, police found a bullet casing in the apartment and a trail of blood leading from one side of the building to the other, where the victim was seen asking the witness for help. Police said a large amount of blood was visible on the floor of the supposedly empty apartment.

Police found Cain about five blocks from the crime scene after he left his home and walked into a wooded area. When he left the woods, he was arrested, the report said.

Police traced the paths Merritts and Cain took as they left the scene, and the gun was found just feet from where Merritts was arrested, court documents say. The Glock was reported stolen on Aug. 14.

The report states that Cain and Merrits did not know the victim prior to this meeting, but allegedly knew from the victim's gait and behavior that he was in possession of controlled substances.

Merritts faces one count of attempted criminal homicide, two counts of aggravated assault, trespassing, receiving stolen goods, prohibited possession of a weapon and carrying a firearm without a permit, as well as three counts of simple assault, willful possession of a murder weapon, possession of a weapon and possession of a controlled substance.

He is being held in the Blair County Jail on $750,000 bail.

Cain faces one count of attempted criminal homicide, two counts of aggravated assault and trespassing, and three counts of simple assault and related offenses.

He is being held in jail on $500,000 bail.

Both Merritts and Cain are scheduled to appear in a preliminary hearing before Magistrate Judge Daniel C. DeAntonio on August 28.