Police say gun in shootings was stolen
A gun that a Butler man allegedly fired repeatedly into the air last week was stolen more than five years ago from Ohio.
City police said the recent finding added another felony charge against 36-year-old Allen D. Franklin.
Franklin appeared Monday for his preliminary hearing in the case. He eventually waived all charges to court. He is free on bail.
Police arrested the defendant following a report of shots fired about 1 p.m. June 18 in the city's Island neighborhood.
The investigation eventually turned up six spent .40-caliber casings from the area of Negley Avenue and Upper Shore Street, police said.
Officers earlier had spoken to a man mowing grass in that same area who reported seeing a man matching Franklin's description walk into the yard. Moments later, the man mowing grass heard six to seven shots, one right after another, court documents said.
The gunshots also apparently startled utility workers nearby. No one was injured and no property was apparently damaged.
Police said that after interviewing witnesses they identified Franklin, who lives in the 300 block of Negley Avenue, as the suspected shooter.
Police Capt. Jim Hollobaugh said Franklin, who initially gave a bogus name, denied shooting a handgun. He refused to give police any information, and he was placed in the Butler County Prison on an unrelated warrant.
A criminal-background check, investigators said, found that the defendant, a Virginia native, has convictions that under state law bar him from possessing a firearm.
Additionally, documents said, he also does not have a license to carry a firearm in Pennsylvania.
Police on June 19 charged Franklin in connection with the shooting incident.
He was arraigned on felony charges of persons not to possess firearms and firearms not to be carried without a license, and misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment and false identification to law enforcement. Bail was set at $100,000.
Police eventually reviewed surveillance video from the Negley Avenue neighborhood, which showed Franklin walking onto a porch near his home. He remained there for about a minute.
Officers later recovered a .40-caliber pistol, which had been placed under the back porch of that neighbor's home. Police said they believed it was the gun used in the shooting,
A records check on the gun, documents said, found that it had been reported stolen Oct. 8, 2012, to the Franklin County Sheriff's Office in Ohio.
Authorities before Franklin's preliminary hearing Monday at the office of District Judge William Fullerton withdrew the original complaint against him.
He was immediately arraigned on a new complaint that included the original charges as well as an additional one, receiving stolen property, a felony.
He waived his hearing. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to reduce his bail to $25,000. He posted bail Tuesday and was released.
Franklin's attorney, Stephen Misko, declined to comment on the case Monday.
