Dispute over parking ends in gunfire, police say
CONNOQUENESSING TWP — A dispute between neighbors Tuesday evening allegedly resulted in several rounds of gunfire, but no one was injured.
State police later arrested the suspected gunman, Austin R. Coburn, 18, of Connoquenessing Township.
District Judge Kevin O’Donnell arraigned Coburn on a felony charge of carrying a firearm without a permit and a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment. He was placed in the Butler County Prison on $10,000 bail following arraignment.
Police allege the teenager, who lives on Hoot Owl Road, and a friend shortly after 7 p.m. got into an argument with Nathaniel Gilson over parking on their property.
Afterward, according to court documents, Coburn and his friend drove past Gilson’s home on Hawk Drive. The defendant, who was in the front passenger seat, is accused firing several rounds out his car window.
The shots were apparently aimed into woods but “in the vicinity” of Gilson and four others —his wife and three neighbors.
Police later talked to Coburn’s friend, who admitted driving the car they were in. But he denied knowing Coburn had a gun until he heard the defendant yelling out the window at Gilson.
The friend told police that Coburn fired “three to four shots with a silver pistol,” documents said.
The defendant’s preliminary hearing is set for Tuesday at the office of District Judge Wayne Seibel in Evans City.
