Ex-Pitt DB Paris Ford Wanted in Connection with Shooting

Allegheny County Police are actively searching for former Pitt football player Paris Ford for his connection to a shooting in Clairton, with a warrant out for his arrest.

Ford has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault, one count of discharging a firearm into an occupied structure and one count of recklessly endangering another person. The two counts of aggravated assault and the count of discharging a firearm into an occupied structure are both felonies and the count of recklessly endangering another person is a misdemeanor.

The two counts of aggravated assault differ, in that the first one deals with Ford attempting to cause harm and the second on the use of a deadly weapon during that assault, which police allege occurred on March 15 on the 800 block of Third Street in Clairton, Pa.

Allegheny County 911 received a report of shots fired at 11:40 a.m. on Monday, March 15. Prior to police officers arriving on the scene, they were alerted to a black Nissan Rogue picking up three Black males and departing from the area.

Whitehall police identified the vehicle at 12:05 p.m., going northbound on Route 51. The officers put on their lights and sirens to signal the car to pull over for a traffic stop, but the driver of the Rogue did not do so, departing at a high speed. The Rogue stopped on the roadway near the intersections of Route 88 and Maytide Street, with three men exiting the vehicle. Whitehall police soon arrested two of the men who fled after a short pursuit on foot.

Police identified Ford as the third man exiting the vehicle based on surveillance video from the Fairhaven United Methodist Church. The footage allegedly shows Ford fleeing from the Rogue and carrying a black semi-automatic pistol in his right hand, before discarding the the weapon beneath a flight of stairs on the south side of the church. Detectives at the site found a Sarsilmaz B6C 9mm pistol, and a check of firearm records showed Ford as the owner.

The driver of the Rogue then sped off a second time, with Bethel Park Police in pursuit, before losing control and crashing at the intersection of Route 88 and Clifton Road. In the wrecked vehicle, a police detective found a prescription bottle with Ford’s name on it.

In the security camera footage from the church, Ford is seen wearing a distinctive outfit that matches video from the scene of the shooting.

Allegheny County Mobile Crime Unit scientists found seven bullet strikes to the rear west of the duplex, four at 803 3rd Street and three at 805 3rd Street. They also discovered two 9mm cartridge casings in the back yard west of 803 3rd Street and a projectile located in 805 3rd Street.

In addition to Ford, police have charged 26-year-old Jaylin Howard of Detroit, Mich. with persons not to possess a firearm and 25-year-old Donye Felton of Penn Hills, Pa. with carrying a firearm without a license and fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer. They released the third individual taken into custody.

Ford starred in high school for Seton LaSalle as sophomore and junior, but especially as a senior for Steel Valley in 2016. The Ironmen finished undefeated and won the WPIAL and PIAA Titles in Class-2A.

He committed to Pitt in 2015 and came in as a four-star and one of the top players in the state in the Class of 2016. After redshirting in 2017, Ford played the next three seasons for the Panthers. He played in 29 games, including all 13 in 2019 at safety. Ford also played the first seven games of 2020, but following a blowout loss to then ranked No. 3 Notre Dame at home on Oct. 24, he chose to depart the team and declare for the NFL draft.

No NFL team selected him in the 2021 Draft and he signed with the Los Angeles Rams as a UDFA, before they soon released him. 

He played with the New Jersey Generals in the USFL for the past two seasons, but when the league merged with the XFL to become the UFL after last year, they were one of four USFL teams contracted and they folded, leaving Ford without a team.