A Derry Township man was jailed over the weekend after he fired a revolver within 10 feet of a relative while inside his North Wharton Street home. According to court records, members of the Pennsylvania State Police at Troop A, Kiski Valley, were dispatched at approximately 5:19 p.m.
Friday to 403 N. Wharton St., Derry Township, after a female relative called and told police that 68-year-old Dennis Andrew Short “was intoxicated and had fired a gun inside the house during an argument.
” Multiple PSP patrol units responded to the scene, in addition to backup from the Derry Borough and Latrobe City police departments. Upon arrival, officers instructed the 911 caller to exit the residence, which she did. Law enforcement officers then set up a perimeter.
The relative told police that she and Short “had been on and off arguing lately” before she left the residence earlier in the day. When she returned home, Short was reportedly passed out on a living room chair with a liquor bottle in his hand, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case. Short awakened as the relative tried to quietly walk by him.
The pair began arguing in the kitchen area of the residence, according to court papers, while Short “had a handgun in his hand.” The relative told Short to put the gun away, but he countered by placing the firearm beneath his chin, “making the motion that he would shoot himself if she left him.” The relative told police she then took out her cellphone and began dialing 911.
Short reportedly aimed the firearm at the relative, prompting her to abort the emergency phone call. Short then fired one round from the handgun into the kitchen ceiling. She told investigators she was roughly 10 feet away from Short when he fired the revolver.
The relative then walked into a bedroom, locked the door and began packing items. She called 911 and was transferred to PSP Kiski Valley, and a dispatcher advised her to exit the residence. Short eventually gained access to the bedroom, where they continued arguing briefly, according to the criminal complaint, before he left the room.
After officers ordered Short to exit the residence for roughly 25 minutes, he finally walked out and was taken into custody without incident. Law enforcement officials later applied for and were granted a search warrant for the residence. The search, conducted late Friday night, Aug.
9, uncovered a revolver in the living room. Investigators said the firearm had one fired casing and four unfired rounds. A bullet hole was observed in a ceiling tile in the kitchen, according to court papers.
Short was arraigned 8:15 a.m. Saturday in front of on-call Greensburg Magisterial District Judge Mark Mansour.
Short is charged with simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and intimidating a victim, all second-degree misdemeanor offenses. He was remanded to Westmoreland County Prison in lieu of $50,000 cash bail. An online prison inmate search conducted Monday evening confirmed Short is still incarcerated in the Hempfield Township correctional facility.
A preliminary hearing for Short is scheduled for 10 a.m. Aug.
21 in front of Bradenville Magisterial District Judge Kelly Tua Hammers. Joseph Bell is news editor of The Latrobe Bulletin, a Sample News Group sibling of the Indiana Gazette..
