Man charged in Pa. shooting still at large

February 09, 2008|By DON AINES

McCONNELLSBURG, PA. - Area schools continued on lockdown Friday and police still were looking for a Harrisonville, Pa., man charged with attempted murder in a Thursday morning shooting in Belfast Township.

Pennsylvania State Police said Friday night that Gregory Aaron Rouzer, 40, of 1291 Possum Hollow Road, still was at large. He is charged in the shooting of a man outside the man's home on Thursday about 7:30 a.m.

Police said Rouzer is a skilled outdoorsman and should be considered armed. He is white, 5 feet 10 inches tall and 200 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes, police said.

A trooper said Friday night there were no new leads in the search for Rouzer.

Police did not release the name of the victim or discuss a possible motive for the shooting.

Police said Rouzer and the unidentified victim knew each other. Rouzer came onto the man's property in the 3000 block of Sipes Mill Road armed with a .22-caliber rifle and the man came out of his house with a shotgun, police said.

Rouzer fired at and hit the man, whom police said returned fire and might have wounded him. Rouzer last was seen running into the woods and still armed, Trooper David McGarvey said Thursday.

The man was shot in the neck, upper left arm and elbow, McGarvey said. Although struck three times and taken to York (Pa.) Hospital, police said the man's injuries were not life-threatening.

State police called in a Special Emergency Response Team to surround Rouzer's mobile home, about six miles from the scene of the shooting. When police entered the trailer about 2:30 p.m. Rouzer was not there, although his car was parked outside.

Schools in Fulton County were locked down Thursday and again Friday. Schools in the Greencastle-Antrim School District also were on lockdown, according to a statement on the district's Web site.

"The person involved in the incident in McConnellsburg may have had connections to our schools," the Web site stated. Director of Secondary Education Robert Crider said it would be up to Acting Superintendent C. Gregory Hoover as to whether the lockdown would continue next week if Rouzer still is at large.

"The police do not feel the school district is in any immediate threat," said Angela Marshall, a spokeswoman for the Central Fulton School District. Police recommended the lockdown be continued as a precaution, she said.

Anyone with information about Rouzer's whereabouts may call their local law enforcement agency or Pennsylvania State Police in McConnellsburg at 717-485-3131.

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