Johnstown police are investigating a late-night drive-by shooting that sent as many as ten shots ringing out across the 800 blocks of Cypress Avenue and Highland Avenue in the Moxham section of the city, leaving a bullet hole punched through a victim's windshield but no reported injuries. The gunfire erupted late Tuesday night, according to a police report.
Witnesses told police they heard the volley of shots, and one witness reported hearing two vehicles circling the area beforehand, according to a police report cited by WJAC. The suspect vehicle reportedly fled the scene at a high rate of speed and was described in the report as a black-colored station wagon. The alleged victim told police he heard two males talking just before the shooting started, with one asking, “What are you doing?”
Detectives reviewed home surveillance footage that allegedly confirmed the description of the suspect vehicle, and they recovered six 9mm shell casings behind a property on the 800 block of Highland Avenue. Police said there were no injuries reported, and per the same account, they plan to provide further updates as the investigation continues.
A Street Johnstown Police Know Well
This is not the first time gunfire has torn through Highland Avenue this year. In May, Johnstown police issued arrest warrants for two suspects tied to a drive-by shooting on the 400 block of the same street, which investigators alleged was retaliation for an earlier shooting in neighboring Richland Township, according to a report from Fox 8 WWCP. Just three weeks before the September shooting, in August, Johnstown police combed Highland Avenue and Dupont Street after an 18-year-old gunshot victim showed up at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center with conflicting accounts and refused to cooperate with detectives, as Hoodline previously reported.
Witness non-cooperation and retaliatory dynamics between local groups have been a persistent challenge for the department, a pattern law enforcement officials and prosecutors have repeatedly flagged in recent briefings. Late last April, three separate gun violence incidents struck Moxham within four days — including a shooting outside Slammin' Sam's bar on Grove Avenue and a fatal shooting on Park Avenue — prompting Cambria County District Attorney Jessica Aurandt to publicly warn that the violence appeared retaliatory and posed an ongoing threat to the community.
Dense, Historic Blocks Caught in the Crossfire
Moxham is a historic residential and commercial district of roughly 330 structures, most built between 1890 and 1930, packed into a compact 20-square-block grid along the Stonycreek River. The shooting occurred on residential blocks like Cypress and Highland avenues.
Prosecutors Vow No Leniency for Gun Crimes
Whoever fired the shots faces a legal landscape that has hardened considerably this year. In June, Aurandt announced a strict policy eliminating lenient plea deals for serious firearm offenses, pledging to prosecute gun cases to the fullest extent of statutory penalties in response to rising violence across Johnstown. Under Section 2707.1 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code, discharging a firearm into an occupied structure or vehicle is a third-degree felony punishable by up to seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine, according to legal guidance published by the Zuckerman Law Firm.
That tougher stance follows a June sentencing that offered a preview of what defendants can expect: a Johnstown man was sentenced to 10 years in state prison after pleading guilty to aggravated assault and illegal firearm possession for shooting another man in the stomach during a May 2025 confrontation in Moxham. Federal crime data compiled for 2025 gave Johnstown an overall violent crime rate of 589.2 per 100,000 residents — an “F” rating that puts the city well above national averages, per SpotCrime.io.
Police Push for More Boots on Moxham Streets
City officials have been responding to mounting resident frustration. After outcry at a June city council meeting over recurring neighborhood violence, Johnstown Police Chief Mark Britton proposed opening a dedicated police substation in Moxham, with support from local business owners, to speed up emergency response times and boost officer presence. Earlier in the year, the department was awarded a $200,000 public safety grant aimed at funding targeted saturation patrols in high-crime neighborhoods and youth anti-violence education seminars.
No arrests have been announced in connection with Tuesday night's shooting, and the investigation remains active. Johnstown police said they will release further updates as the case develops.
