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Monroeville Adds Surveillance Cameras After Mall Shooting

 A Pittsburgh suburb wracked by a shooting at its major indoor shopping mall and other violent incidents now has new surveillance cameras in place.

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. and the Monroeville Area Chamber of Commerce announced the move Wednesday.

Chamber of Commerce President Sean Logan said the new cameras are aimed at catching criminals and deterring others. 

"So, if you come in and want to cause a problem, commit a crime, more than likely you're going to be on camera somewhere," Logan said. "We're going to find you and you are going to pay the price." 

Seventeen-year-old Tarod Thornhill, of Penn Hills, is awaiting trial on charges he shot three people in Macy's at the Monroeville Mall in February 2015.

Since then, other shootings and violence, some believed to be gang-related, have disrupted the major business district in this suburb which borders Pittsburgh's crime-ridden eastern suburbs.

Logan said the new cameras will help with crimes that happen outside of Monroeville too. 

“If a crime is committed in another community we can access those cameras to see if that car traveled through, if those persons traveled through," he said. "So this is a wonderful community policing effort.”

The new cameras will be monitored in real time to help law enforcement respond more effectively to the threat of violence and make shoppers and other visitors feel safe.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.