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U-Haul employee killed in carjacking 'was a special young man with a bright future' | TribLIVE.com
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U-Haul employee killed in carjacking 'was a special young man with a bright future'

Megan Guza And Julia Felton
4101057_web1_Jacob-Jaillet
Courtesy of U-haul
Jacob Jaillet, 21, was shot and killed during an alleged robbery at a U-haul rental center on Washington Boulevard last week.

Two 21-year-old men crossed paths in Pittsburgh last week during an interaction that lasted no longer than it took for one to make a decision and pull a trigger. Now, one is dead and the other in jail, awaiting charges that likely will grow to include homicide.

Pittsburgh police indicated it was mostly chance that Jacob Jaillet was the U-Haul employee who walked outside with Braijon Burton a little before 5 p.m. July 27.

Burton had been in and out of the rental center several times asking about pricing and features and, on his final trip inside, he asked to look inside one of the trucks, police wrote in the criminal complaint. One employee who was eating at the time was about to get keys to go help Burton, according to what witnesses told police, but Jaillet offered to wait on Burton instead.

Once outside, Burton would tell police, he said to himself, “I’m taking this truck,” and he shot Jaillet in the head. He took the keys and the truck and made a right onto Washington Boulevard.

“Jake was a special young man with a bright future,” Elizabeth Hertzler, president of U-Haul Pittsburgh, said in a statement. “He was genuinely loved by his U-Haul family. It may sound cliché, but he truly lit up a room. Everyone was always happy to be around Jake and so excited when they could work with him.”

He had worked for more than a year as a customer service representative at the Washington Boulevard location, and he worked at the Peach Street Marketplace location in Erie while he was attending school at Edinboro University.

She said he was universally loved by his U-Haul co-workers, many of whom sat vigil outside the hospital.

Jaillet died late Sunday morning, five days after the shooting.

Hertzler called his killing a “cold, senseless and tragic crime.” She said that he had been communicating with his mother using a letter board while he was hospitalized. Though he was partially paralyzed, she said, he could blink when his mother pointed at a letter, helping him to spell out messages.

“One message he sent to us asked if the pickup truck was OK,” Hertzler said. “This message spoke to Jake’s love of his job, his humor and most importantly, how tough he was.”

After Burton took off from the rental center, he headed toward Butler Street in Lawrenceville, according to the complaint. An officer in an unmarked car activated his lights and siren and tried to catch up. He followed Burton onto Route 28.

At one point, Burton struck a Chevy Tahoe in traffic and then shot at the driver, according to the complaint.

He got off at the 31st Street Bridge, where a Pittsburgh police officer had parked his patrol car on the shoulder of the ramp. Burton allegedly drove head-on into the police car, forcing the officer, who was outside the car, to leap out of the way. He was hit on his left side, police wrote.

From there, Burton careened into a jersey barrier, according to the complaint, and he was taken into custody. Detectives said Burton told them, “I don’t know why I did it. I got the gun from my grandfather. Is the officer OK?”

The officer was treated at UPMC Mercy and released the same day. Burton was treated at Allegheny General Hospital then taken to police headquarters.

During an interview with police, Burton said he took the .38 caliber revolver from inside a Crown Royal bag in his grandfather’s dresser on July 4, according to the complaint. Officers said he told them it was for protection when he went to Rankin.

Burton, according to the complaint, said his cousin was preparing to move, and that’s what led Burton to the U-haul center that day.

He said, when he crashed into the police car, he thought about pointing the gun at officers so he could commit “suicide by cop,” police wrote.

Burton is charged with attempted homicide, three counts of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and firearms violations. It was not clear Monday whether charges would be upgraded to include homicide.

Jaillet was a sophomore at Edinboro studying data analytics. He loved sports, and he played both summer league and club baseball at Edinboro. He is survived by his mother, Tammi, his father, Jeff, and his sister, Hope. U-Haul set up a donation page to help his family cover costs.

Daniel Bennett, his academic advisor at the university, said he was a kind and intelligent student and commended his passion for learning.

“We are all sad to hear of the loss of this fine young man,” Anne Quinn, department chair for the mathematics and computer science department, said.

Interim President Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson said her heart goes out to Jaillet’s family.

“We, as a campus community, offer our deepest condolences to Jacob’s family and friends,” Pehrsson said. “I know that we will all hold them in our thoughts and in our hearts in the days ahead.”

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