The 20-year-old victim was critically injured near the busway station as transit police took the lead in the investigation.
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Pittsburgh police have identified a 19-year-old man as the prime suspect in the stabbing of a 20-year-old near the East Liberty bus station, an attack that prompted an emergency response, a drone search and temporary restrictions along the East Busway.
Delvin Dobbins had not been charged in the Oct. 1 stabbing as of the latest published report. Police identified him as the prime suspect after investigators initially searched the East Liberty area without announcing an arrest. The victim was hospitalized in critical condition after the attack, and Pittsburgh Regional Transit Police are leading the investigation.
Emergency crews were called to the 6200 block of Ellsworth Avenue at about 5:43 p.m. Oct. 1. Pittsburgh police and transit officers found the wounded man near the East Liberty station and arranged for him to be taken to a hospital. Pittsburgh Regional Transit later said the victim was 20 years old and remained in critical condition that night.
The attack disrupted travel through the area while officers searched for a suspect. Pittsburgh police supplied a drone as part of that effort, and a single-lane restriction was imposed during the investigation. The East Busway was later reopened. Authorities did not immediately announce an arrest or publicly describe a motive for the stabbing.
The case took on added significance when police identified Dobbins as their prime suspect. He had been arrested days earlier in an unrelated stabbing in Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood, where police said an argument that began on a bus turned violent after two men got off near Penn Avenue.
In the Sept. 23 incident, authorities accused Dobbins of stabbing a man once in the abdomen. Bystanders provided first aid before medics took the victim to a hospital. He was initially reported in critical condition and was later listed in serious but stable condition. Officers located a person matching the suspect’s description on Baum Boulevard in nearby Bloomfield.
Police said Dobbins resisted arrest and became confrontational when officers approached him. Officers used a Taser, and medics evaluated him before he was taken to a hospital and then to the Allegheny County Jail. He was charged with aggravated assault in connection with the Garfield stabbing.
Dobbins was later released on non-monetary bond by District Judge Dan Butler, according to WPXI. Pittsburgh Police Chief Jason Lando raised concerns about the release after Dobbins emerged as the prime suspect in the East Liberty investigation. The Fifth Judicial District, which oversees Allegheny County magistrates, declined to comment to the station.
The two investigations remain legally distinct. Dobbins faces an aggravated assault charge in the Garfield case, while the available reporting said he had not been charged in the East Liberty stabbing. Police had also not publicly disclosed what evidence connected him to the second attack or whether investigators had determined what led to the confrontation near the bus station.
WPXI reported that Dobbins had also been accused of shooting a South Side convenience store clerk about two years earlier. The available reporting did not establish the final disposition of that case. The shooting victim and both stabbing victims survived, according to the station.
Pittsburgh Regional Transit Police continue to lead the East Liberty investigation. As of the latest published information, authorities had not announced charges against Dobbins in that case or released a motive, leaving the identification of a prime suspect as the most recent confirmed development.
Author note: Last updated October 4, 2026.