James McKeag, an officer with the Turtle Creek Police Department, was killed on April 9, 1901, in Braddock when attempting to serve a warrant on a man for horse stealing.
The man was apprehended on a bridge. As McKeag served the warrant, the man attacked him, beat him, and threw him from the bridge.
After a lengthy delay, Alexander Ferguson was arrested and is reported to have confessed to police. He and three others, James Davis, Charles Wilson, and James Hussey, were charged with murder.
All were released after Ferguson’s confession was rejected as unreliable. No subsequent arrests were made.
State Killings in the Steel City: The History of the Death Penalty in Pittsburgh 