Fredericktown man charged in shots fired incident
A Fredericktown man is behind bars after police allege he fired between 20 and 30 rounds from a gun outside his home Wednesday prompting police from a dozen departments to respond to the residence.
Loran Bruce Yonkers, 55, of 7 Apple Drive, was charged before Magisterial District Judge Jay Weller with recklessly endangering another person, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.
State police Cpl. Daniel Mosura Jr. said that officers from three state police installations and nine municipal departments responded to Yonkers’ home around 11 p.m. Wednesday for a report of shots fired and area residents hearing screaming and shouting.
Mosura said that when police arrived, they saw a man, later identified as Yonkers, standing outside his home repeatedly firing and reloading a gun.
Police could also hear a woman pleading with Yonkers to stop.
After firing between 20 and 30 rounds, Mosura said Yonkers retreated inside his residence and turned out all the lights.
Mosura said police were then able to enter the home and take Yonkers into custody without incident.
He said that Yonkers’ wife said that Yonkers was firing the gun because of recent problems with some neighbors and that Yonkers fired the shots to “let them know not to come up here.”
Yonkers was placed in Washington County Prison on $10,000 straight cash bond following his arraignment.
He will face a preliminary hearing at 2 p.m. Thursday before Weller.
State police troopers from Washington, Belle Vernon and Waynesburg were joined at the scene by police officers from East Bethlehem Township, California, California University, Beallsville, Charleroi, Centerville, Southwest Regional police, Brownsville and West Brownsville.