Yahoo News Man arrested in Mahoningtown gunfire
Feb. 26—No one was injured when gunfire erupted Friday on North Cedar Street in Mahoningtown, reportedly as part of an ongoing dispute between two men.
New Castle police arrested Jose Luis Gutierrez, 26, of Blaine Street, in connection with the gunfire that was reported to have occurred on the front porch of a house in the 400 block of North Cedar Street around 10:45 a.m. Gutierrez is accused of firing about 11 times at the man with whom he had differences.
No injuries were reported, but a man who was uninvolved and lived in a house nearby escaped injury when a bullet went through his bedroom, according to a criminal complaint filed by police.
Gutierrez told police he was having issues with a man who had previously threatened him with a shotgun, had followed him and slashed his girlfriend's tires, according to a criminal complaint.
He said the man pulled up to the house in a car and was walking toward him with his hand in his pocket, the report said. Gutierrez told police he shot at the male because he was in fear for his life. The man then got back into his vehicle and drove away, the report said.
Police said they found bullet holes in the north side of a neighboring house that was occupied. One slug penetrated a wall in the upstairs bedroom, narrowly missing an uninvolved man who was in that room.
A suspected bullet mark also was found on another neighboring house next to the front door, police said.
Officers found a loaded .22-short-caliber revolver on the ground in front of where Gutierrez said the man had been standing.
The gun Gutierrez used reportedly was a Taurus 9-millimeter gun, the police reported.
A surveillance video shows a dark Chevrolet Sonic as the suspected vehicle of the other man. The police located the car and pulled it over on Atlantic Avenue and the man identified by Gutierrez was an occupant.
He told police he was pistol-whipped by Gutierrez at a downtown New Castle tavern the previous night.
He stopped at the North Cedar Street house and Gutierrez started shooting at him from the porch, the report said.
Gutierrez is facing one count of aggravated assault and two counts of recklessly endangering another person.
He was arraigned by District Judge Jennifer L. Nicholson, who committed him to the Lawrence County jail on a $200,000 bond.
Suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty or adjudicated in court.
