In the early evening hours of September 11, 2019, the life of 29-year-old Lawrence Alston, a male resident of York, Pennsylvania, was tragically cut short in a burst of gunfire. The incident unfolded at approximately 8:33 p.m. in the 500 block of West Princess Street. Alston was not alone in this violent encounter; he was with 42-year-old Charles McCallister, also of York.
Both men were outside a residence in the area when they were shot.
Following the shooting, the two men managed to run to a nearby home on West Princess Street, a place that was not their own, before collapsing from their injuries. Emergency services were called to the scene, and both Alston and McCallister were found unresponsive. They were rushed to York Hospital for medical attention. Despite the efforts of medical personnel, both men succumbed to their wounds shortly after their arrival. An autopsy would later reveal that Lawrence Alston's death was a result of multiple gunshot wounds, and the coroner officially ruled his death a homicide.
The York City Police Department launched an investigation into the double homicide. At the scene of the crime, investigators recovered multiple shell casings and other pieces of evidence. The initial assessment by law enforcement suggested that the shooting was not a random act of violence and that both Alston and McCallister were specifically targeted. Complicating the investigation was another shooting that occurred later the same night in the area of North Pershing Avenue and Jefferson Avenue, which left another man in critical condition. Authorities were initially unsure if the two incidents were related.
As the investigation progressed, the case of Lawrence Alston's murder proved to be a difficult one for law enforcement. Despite the belief that he was the intended victim of a targeted attack, no suspects were publicly identified in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. As time passed, the investigation into the deaths of Lawrence Alston and Charles McCallister remained open, but no arrests were made in connection with their murders. The case has since gone cold, leaving the questions surrounding the circumstances of Alston's death unanswered and his killer or killers still at large. The community was left to mourn the loss of two of its members to what was described as a senseless act of gun violence, with the hope that justice would one day be served.
