Police were dispatched to a report of an accidental shooting
at a residence in Kane on March 3, 2022.
The victim had been shot and was being flown to an out of area hospital
for treatment. ROBERTSON reported that the gun accidentally discharged after
she racked the slide prior to putting the gun away. She told police she had been drinking all
day, the gun had been on her kitchen table for several days and was
loaded. She decided to rack the slide so
there was a bullet in the chamber before she put the gun in her safe out of the
reach of a minor child who resided at the residence. She told police the gun accidentally
discharged when she racked the slide. A firearms’ expert with the Pennsylvania
State Police testified to the amount of pressure required for the gun to fire
and the sequence of steps that must occur prior to the gun firing – all that
disproved accidental discharge.
ROBERTSON was charged and convicted of Recklessly
Endangering Another Person and a Kane Borough ordinance of discharging a
firearm in the borough. The Commonwealth
sought – and the jury found- an enhancement related to the use of a deadly
weapon during the crime. Officer William Nichols of the Kane Borough Police
Department investigated the case.
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Coppolo prosecuted the case on behalf
of the Commonwealth. Sentencing was scheduled for January 30th.
