Local woman looking to bounce back after drive-by shooting damages business

MOUNT OLIVER, Pa. — A local business owner is still picking up the pieces after her business was damaged in a drive-by shooting over the weekend.

The shooting happened Saturday night, and injured three people. All of the victims are expected to survive. The bullets also damaged two businesses in the area.

>>> Drive-by shooting in Mount Oliver injures 3 people, damages small businesses

The damage inside Plee Projects is clear. Owner Patience Whitfield, 29, walked Channel 11 through her photography studio on Brownsville Road that’s now full of bullet holes.

“Watch your step; there’s a lot of glass,” Whitfield said. “Everything in here is like an art piece, collected.”

Several bullets went through the windows and walls, damaging hundreds of dollars worth of equipment and furniture.

“I almost fainted,” said Whitfield. “My lighting, this is a $300 Godox light system. You can see a bullet went through there.”

The entire ceiling in the studio was hit by gunfire and a glass table was shattered.

“This was kind of thrown everywhere,” Whitfield said. “A lot of the equipment stands are broken. You can see bullet holes and damage all in there.”

Gunshots struck Whitfield’s studio and a dog training business, Phenomenal Canine, next door during the drive-by shooting.

The three people hurt by gunfire included two young YouTubers who were renting the studio space when they were hit.

“These were just innocent kids making YouTube videos,” Whitfield said.

>> Allegheny County police trying to locate vehicle in connection to drive-by shooting

Whitfield wasn’t expecting to find her business turned into a crime scene Saturday night. She said she’s been working with the Hilltop Alliance to revitalize the area.

“This is going to take us some steps back,” she said. “My concern, I don’t really make a profit here. This is just a part of my mission...when I was an artist coming out, we didn’t have a lot of spaces like this.”

Now she fears she might have to close her doors.

“I don’t see how I’m going to be able to afford all these repairs,” said Whitfield. “I had to cancel all my bookings and refund all of them, and this is affecting their money and how they feed their kids. The other people who invested in all their props and outfits, this is affecting so many people not just me, and that’s what I’m most concerned about.”

If you’d like to help the owner of Plee Projects fix all the damage to her business, head to her GoFundMe page.

There are no suspects in the shooting.

Police are looking to locate a white 2009 Mazda CX9 with Pa. registration MFX-5807. If you see the car, police say you should call 911. Anyone with information on the shooting should call the tip line, 1-833-ALL-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.

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