https://www.msn.com/en-us/news...un-range/ar-BB1cb38u

Police: Man shot friend before bystander fatally shot him at Greene Township gun range

Tim Hahn, Erie Times-News 3 hrs ago

Two men, one of whom had just purchased a pistol, were taking turns firing the weapon at a gun range on state game lands in Greene Township on Tuesday afternoon when one of the men turned on the other and began firing at him, according to Pennsylvania State Police investigators.

A man in a neighboring shooting stall then fired his weapon at the shooter in an apparent move to stop the attack, killing the shooter, investigators said.

State police are trying to determine why the man killed, identified as 26-year-old Robert A. Eppley of North East, turned the gun on his friend, said Lt. Mark Weindorf, crime section supervisor for state police Troop E in Lawrence Park Township.

No charges had been filed as of Wednesday evening.

Eppley was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting, at the State Game Lands 109 gun range at 10679 Sampson Road, at 3:11 p.m. Tuesday by Erie County Deputy Coroner John Maloney.

A 4½-hour autopsy performed Wednesday by Erie County forensic pathologist Eric Vey, M.D., determined that Eppley died of gunshot wounds to the torso, Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook said.

Cook ruled the death a homicide.

A 67-year-old Erie man who state police said shot Eppley was questioned and later released as part of the ongoing investigation into Tuesday's incident, Weindorf said on Wednesday morning.

Also questioned, he said, was the man shot by Eppley, identified by state police only as a 28-year-old Erie man. He was shot multiple times and was taken to UPMC Hamot for treatment before being released from the hospital on Tuesday night, Weindorf said.

A motive in the shooting "is completely unknown," Weindorf said Wednesday. Investigators have so far been unable to identify any issue between the two men to explain why the shooting happened, he said.

The shooting was reported to state police on Tuesday at 2:08 p.m. According to Weindorf, Eppley and the 28-year-old Erie man arrived at the gun range in separate vehicles, with their girlfriends, after one of the men had just purchased a pistol and they wanted to shoot the new gun.

Weindorf said everyone was taking turns shooting the gun. At one point Eppley had the gun and had just fired five rounds when he turned and began firing the weapon at the 28-year-old man, who was standing about 10 feet from him, "for no apparent reason," Weindorf said.

The 67-year-old man who was nearby, who Weindorf said had no connection to the two men, saw what was happening and fired on Eppley, who was still shooting at his friend, Weindorf said.

Investigators spoke with everyone who was at the gun range during the incident, including three people who were on the facility's rifle range and who said they did not witness the shooting but heard it.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission has closed the gun range until further notice, Weindorf said.


Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sigmund,

Infidelity,poor impulse control and ingestion of alcohol are possible factors. Motives will come to light shortly.

A betting man might speculate that "wimmin" were at the core here.

Man, that dead shooter was really a bad shot, thank God. Firing multiple shots at his "friend" at a distance of about 3 yards, and the victim was treated and released form the hospital? Lucky dog.

Isnt a gun range the worst place to try and commit a crime using a firearm?

Maybe second to the police station!

PA Game Commission ranges are always a place to keep your head on a serious swivel.

A guy was murdered for his suppressor and rifle at the range in Carlisle Springs a few years back. That used to be where I shot for ages. It was also where we had the first ever Forum shoot long, long ago.

And the one out by Halifax was a gangsta's paradise.

Sadly this doesn't sound out of character, even if it's pretty freakin' weird.

But kudos to the old guy who responded. I can only assume he plugged him with FMJ target ammo and still made the shooter DRT.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
A betting man might speculate that "wimmin" were at the core here.

Cause of more wars, duels, knife-fights, and shootouts than the next four causes put together, I'd guess.

45 minutes away. I love how SigForum reports actual news to me in real time!

Public ranges scare me because of 1) idiots with firearms 2) incidents like in the OP. I don't go to the range alone. I go with my son. He goes down range during cease fires. I keep an eye on our firearms. I always have a concealed firearm at the range.

quote:

Originally posted by Oat_Action_Man:
PA Game Commission ranges are always a place to keep your head on a serious swivel.

A guy was murdered for his suppressor and rifle at the range in Carlisle Springs a few years back. That used to be where I shot for ages. It was also where we had the first ever Forum shoot long, long ago.

And the one out by Halifax was a gangsta's paradise.

Sadly this doesn't sound out of character, even if it's pretty freakin' weird.

But kudos to the old guy who responded. I can only assume he plugged him with FMJ target ammo and still made the shooter DRT.

Very true, I have been to this range may times and have left a couple times when the "time to go " vibe hit and I always carried there.

what an odd incident

will be interesting if 'the rest of the story' is ever made known

...Chris Kyle murder comes to mind

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quote:

Originally posted by wreckdiver:
45 minutes away. I love how SigForum reports actual news to me in real time!

Always glad to share. It's called 1) Retirement, and 2) Bing news with US headlines from all over:

https://www.bing.com/news/search

Often the first article is an AP story with few details, the local paper usually has better info.

quote:

A 4½-hour autopsy performed Wednesday by Erie County forensic pathologist Eric Vey, M.D., determined that Eppley died of gunshot wounds to the torso, Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook said.

Cook ruled the death a homicide.

A 67-year-old Erie man who state police said shot Eppley was questioned and later released as part of the ongoing investigation into Tuesday's incident, Weindorf said on Wednesday morning.

Also questioned, he said, was the man shot by Eppley, identified by state police only as a 28-year-old Erie man.

So the 67-y/o man, who shot Eppley while Eppley was shooting the guy sharing the pistol with him, is going to be possibly charged with a homicide?

Not if the police and local prosecutor declare the homicide to be justified. Homicide is simply the means of death, vs suicide or natural causes. Regards 18DAI

quote:

Originally posted by 18DAI:
Homicide is simply the means of death, vs suicide or natural causes.

Strictly speaking, homicide, suicide, natural, accidental, or undetermined are the manners of death, not the means. In this case the cause of the death, which is sometimes referred to as the “means,” was gunshot wound(s).

The concern that someone is being “charged” with homicide comes up in many of these discussions. All the term indicates, though, is that someone’s death was deliberately caused by another person, and not why. In general there are three types of homicide in the US: murder, manslaughter, and justified, and in this instance it will probably be ruled to be justified (assuming the information we currently have is correct).

And it only took 4.5 hours for the autopsy to determine that gunshot wounds were the cause of death?

I don’t know anything about how that autopsy was conducted, but keep in mind that the purpose of an autopsy is to ensure that what we think is true is in fact true. What if the bullet(s) did not strike any vital structures that could have resulted in death within the time that the shootee died? Rather, the autopsy revealed that he coincidentally suffered a massive stroke at the time of the shooting and that’s what killed him? People make false assumptions all the time.

quote:

And it only took 4.5 hours for the autopsy to determine that gunshot wounds were the cause of death?

They had to wait for the Covid test to come back from the lab.

When you get plinked, your body is essentially a crime scene and the autopsy is an evidentiary search. Legalities, you know!

So glad I do not have rely on PA public ranges anymore. Incidents like this are just icing on that evil cake.