Gun culture and the Poconos: Series told stories of the good, bad and ugly when it comes to firearms

What started as a look into the increase of shootings in the area transformed into one of the most sweeping investigations of firearms — including the good, the bad, and the ugly — that the Pocono Record has ever engaged in.

A series of shootings in the Poconos in the early months of 2021 led the team to examine the issues and topics surrounding gun culture with a fine toothed comb. It was an effort to understand what was happening in our neck of the woods, sans agenda — not to demonize guns, but to find out where the problems were and what was being done to fix them; to explore the laws and the practices of responsible owners and how that is so very often ignored.

"I feel that guns have been presented so often as being this divisive issue amongst people," Record senior reporter Brian Myszkowski said. "There are so many stereotypes of the gun owner that are not true at all."

Public safety reporter Hannah Phillips joined the team in April, and soon found herself covering story after story involving firearm violence.

"Being new to the community, and being new to (the public safety beat) also," Phillips learned first-hand how integral guns are to life in the Poconos. She soon joined Myszkowski on the gun culture series, starting with an analysis of mental health and policing.

Myszkowski noted that open discussions could be the key to improving gun safety, and how necessary it is to recognize commonalities between people that could lead to effective compromise.

Because ultimately, gun ownership is a part of life in the Poconos, one that needs to be discussed to avoid the mistakes of the past, and take action in the present to ensure a safe future for the community.

Read on for a look back at the Pocono Record's series on gun culture and violence.

'Another year of loss'

Two mass shootings in March — one in Atlanta, Georgia that claimed eight lives, including six women of Asian descent, and another in Boulder, Colorado that saw 10 fatalities, including a police officer — were separated by less than a week.

Over the course of 2020, the commonwealth saw 34 mass shootings — nearly double 2019’s 19 events — that saw 16 people killed and 138 injured.

The Poconos have been the backdrop to numerous tragedies tied to gun violence. At least 17 shootings in Monroe County have led to 11 deaths and numerous injuries since February 2020.

Fatal family disputes, two men killed by law enforcement, a teenager’s tragic shooting by another teen, a young woman who suffered a gunshot wound while her boyfriend died before her eyes — these are just a few incidents of firearm violence that have occurred in the area since 2020.

This first story in the series examined those incidents, and explored issues and potential solutions.

“Another year of loss, another year of waiting for action. Our loss of loved ones, community, and a sense of safety binds us together,” CeaseFirePA Executive Director Adam Garber said at a conference. “We are now bound together by action. We are joined in calling for our elected officials to enact solutions that will help reduce the gun violence that is devastating families and tearing apart our communities.”

Read the story: Recent violence prompts examination of shootings in the Poconos

The details matter

A person’s home is their castle, and they should never have to flee it before using deadly force against an intruder. The second story in our premium series on gun violence examined the nuances of Pennsylvania's Castle Doctrine.

The doctrine may seem simple, but in fact is one of the most misconstrued legal concepts when it comes to gun law, according to Monroe County First Assistant District Attorney Michael Mancuso.

The Castle Doctrine — which has been in place for some time, but was amended to include additional protections in 2011 — works like this: If a person unlawfully and forcefully enters your home, your vehicle or workplace, and attempts to kill, harm sexually assault or remove you from your home, Pennsylvania — or any other state that employs the law — allows for the use of deadly force, if immediately necessary.

The concept for this story was conceived after the fatal shooting of Adam Schultz in Analomink.

Schultz and his girlfriend happened upon Randy Halterman's property as they were walking along Paradise Trail on the way to explore the remains of Penn Hills Resort. According to Schultz's girlfriend Chastity Frailey, the pair assumed the structure, which was surrounded by garbage and debris, to be abandoned.

After Halterman shot Schultz, and Schultz died from his wounds, social media erupted in debate over "stand your ground" and "Castle Doctrine" defenses. Halterman was eventually charged in the death of Schultz.

"There was cooperation by the defendant that really shed some light on things, and the scene dynamics weren’t that complicated, they were easy to figure out. The fact that there wasn’t any sign of forced entry was readily apparent from examining the structure. Those things are all factored in to the charging decision,” Mancuso said in an interview with the Record.

In a preliminary hearing for the Halterman case held in March, Magisterial District Judge Michael Muth also noted that the Castle Doctrine would likely not stand as a defense, playing into his decision to maintain the charge of homicide over self-defense.

For subscribers: The details matter: A look at the Castle Doctrine and how it works

'An extremely vulnerable position'

The Record's ongoing coverage of the shooting death of Christian Hall by police prompted us to analyze another important topic and how it relates to firearm violence: mental health and policing.

Monroe County law enforcement is no stranger to mental health related crises. According to the Carbon Monroe Pike Mental Health and Developmental Services, police responded to more than 250 of these calls in 2020 alone.

“Every officer that's out there on the road is, at some point, going to face somebody who's having a mental health crisis,” said Chris Wagner, chief of the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department.

It’s a reality that forces police into the role of the mental health professional — the counselor, the negotiator and de-escalator — often.

While many of these interactions end without casualty, those that don’t are prompting law enforcement and mental health professionals to re-evaluate how officers respond to mental health crises.

This conversation came at a time when viral videos of officer-involved shootings have sparked widespread distrust of police and calls for reform, when pandemic-related isolation has reports of mental illness at an all-time high, and when Pennsylvania State Police face scrutiny for the fatal shooting of Christian Hall.

For subscribers: Mental health calls are common for police in the Poconos. Is there a better way to respond?

Of interest: What we know about the fatal police-involved shooting of Poconos teen Christian Hall

When it comes to firearms, education and training matter

One of the first things you notice upon entering the Blue Ridge Cherry Valley Rod & Gun Club pistol range is the number of safety advisories plastered across nearly every surface.

Such was the theme of our fourth installment of our series on gun culture: safety.

On the outside of the club building, a large sign lists a series of “Always…” and “Never…” actions, including the fundamental “Three Rules” — keep the gun pointed in a safe direction, keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire, and keep all firearms unloaded until you’re ready to use them — and other club-specific guidelines.

The signs show up just about everywhere across the shooting range, which is tucked behind a gate painted to depict an American flag in a nook of Sciota just off Route 33.

Those rules are not made to be broken; rather, they are second nature and instinctual to the members of the club— "to every responsible gun owner," club President Jim Meola says as he carefully unloads his bag of his ammunition, attaching magazines to his belt before he carefully takes his sealed pistol out to the range for inspection prior to prepping targets for practice on an overcast evening.

This particular story reminded our staff, and hopefully our readers, that more than one type of gun owner exists.

For subscribers: Safety first: When it comes to firearms, education and training matter

Of interest: Here's what you should know about local high school rifle — according to riflers themselves

Should police fire at moving cars?

With the flash of a gun and a call to police, a tense showing of road rage morphed into a chase through the streets of Monroe County in early August. At its end lay a man with bullet wounds in both arms and an investigation into the Stroud Area Regional Police officer who shot him. It also raised questions about the SARPD officer's use of a long-contested tactic: shooting into a moving vehicle.

Police agencies have grappled for years with concerns that shooting into a moving car can do more harm than good. Odds of an officer hitting their target are low, which leaves bystanders at risk of being struck instead; handgun bullets are unlikely to disable a car with any immediacy; bullets that do strike the driver can cause even more collateral damage.

Concerns over its safety and efficacy have caused law enforcement agencies like the Pennsylvania State Police to prohibit it in all but a few circumstances. Despite the rules meant to prevent them, shootouts between police and fleeing suspects keep happening anyway.

Reporters spoke with experts to find out why for this installment of the series.

For subscribers: Shooting in the Poconos raises question: Should police fire at moving cars?

Doomsday, guns and Jesus Christ

It's like a county fair, except everyone has a gun.

Here, the word "pandemic" is said with air quotes around it, and the politest name for a Democrat is pencil-neck geek. Anthony Fauci is a known communist, and Jesus Christ is an assault weapons manufacturer. Here, LGBT stands for liberty, guns, beer and Trump.

This is the Rod of Iron Freedom Festival.

Rod of Iron Ministries and Kahr Firearms Group — both with ties to the ultra-rich World Peace and Unification Sanctuary Church from Korea known to some as the "Moonies" — hosted the festival from Oct. 8-10 in Greeley. Just over 1,000 people live in this rural town in the northern Pocono Mountains, but more than 5,000 arrived for the weekend-long festival.

Our final premium installment in this series found reporter Hannah Phillips entrenched in the culture of the festival for an entire weekend. Here she saw glimpses of daily life: parents and their children, beloved pets, and business owners trying to make their living. On the other side of that coin: a concealed carry fashion show, crowns of bullets, and a denial of the 2020 election results.

The festival sprawled across the lawn of the Tommy Gun Warehouse and boasted an impressive lineup of speakers: Steve Bannon, the former chief strategist for President Donald Trump; Dana Loesch, the former National Rifle Association spokeswoman; Pastor Sean Moon, son of a self-proclaimed messiah and messenger of Jesus Christ.

They and other GOP figureheads rallied behind Trump and the Second Amendment at the third annual Rod of Iron Freedom Festival.

For subscribers: Doomsday, guns and Jesus Christ: Inside the ultra-right Rod of Iron Freedom Festival

Other stories of note

Fake guns and police standoffs

A man aimed what appeared to be a black hand gun at police and pulled the trigger. The bullets were plastic; it was an airsoft gun. Responding officers knew the difference and didn't fire back.

Stroud Area Regional Police officers arrested Daniel Koltun with the help of a police dog in November after he allegedly threatened officers verbally and with the gun. It's the latest in a string of incidents involving ultra-realistic pellet guns and toy weapons across the Poconos. SARPD arrested a 14-year-old boy who brought a toy gun to Stroudsburg High School in July. In December, Pennsylvania State Police shot and killed 19-year-old Christian Hall, who is Asian, following a standoff in which he held a realistic-looking pellet gun.

The incident prompted us to ask our readers the following prompt for a group editorial: Should fake gun manufacturers do more to make products look fake? The response was mixed, one reader suggested we change the "culture of violence" in America, while another encouraged parents to know what their children are up to. Another responding reader, a hunter and gun owner himself, posited that if toy guns were more fake looking, or "clown-like", we would have less fatal shootings of innocent people by police.

Related: 'Thank God for all involved': SARPD police chief on why her officers didn't shoot back

Group Editorial: Should fake gun manufacturers do more to make products look fake? Readers respond

Accidental shootings at ranges and tactical simulations in the Poconos

In May, a young man in his 20s shot himself at Sunset Hill Shooting Range in Paradise Township.

Pocono Township Police chief Kent Werkheiser said the man, injured himself with a shotgun. He was flown by medevac to a hospital and is being treated for non-life threatening injuries. No one else was hurt.

"The instructor, in the video that I saw, was less than two feet away from him," Werkheiser said. "So you had a certified range with a certified instructor with hands-on instructing when this thing occurred."

Werkheiser said the police have a "solid view" of what occurred that afternoon. From his experience, the Sunset Hill range operates and is run with the proper precaution and safety measures. "We all know firearms can be dangerous," Werkheiser said. "The way this range is run, there are always certified instructors with the customers. They're never left alone."

Sunset Hill Shooting Range general manager Carl Cimino said the guest was injured as a result of a “self-motivated and self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

Read the story: Man shot at Henryville shooting range — it isn't the first time.

Across Monroe County, in downtown Stroudsburg, a grim anniversary passed in September: the month marked two years since Darin McMahon had been paralyzed by a gunshot wound to the neck at the now-closed TATS building.

Cody Saylor aimed his gun across the garage at the man who entered. It was supposed to be a simulation. Saylor played the aggressor, and McMahon, his target.

Saylor peered through the window of a car between them, and then shot — bang. It was louder than it should have been, louder than the simulation gunfire they'd exchanged all weekend long. McMahon fell immediately.

"What was that?" someone yelled.

By the time police arrived, McMahon was no longer breathing. He lay unresponsive on the ground of the garage with a gunshot wound to the neck, the bullet from Saylor's Glock lodged in his spinal cord.

A settlement was reached in 2021's civil suit surrounding the incident.

“Our civil case was about revealing that there was a failure in policies, procedures and protocols for safety,” said Cary McClain, McMahon’s lawyer. “These small, easy-to-do safety precautions would have prevented this accident.”

The $5.5 million settlement represents a fraction of the total cost of McMahon’s lifetime care and lost earnings, estimated at more than $11 million, according to the lawsuit.

TATS announced its closure in a Facebook post in June 2020: "In light of recent events, tough decisions had to be made," owner Kehr wrote. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Read the story: Man paralyzed in accidental shooting in the Poconos reaches $5.5 million settlement

The stories that prompted the series

October, 2020 saw several days of violence in Monroe County. The late Joe McDonald, Public Safety reporter for the Record at the time, covered a weekend of fatal violence in the story headlined: Monday shooting the latest incident in rash of violence in the Poconos.

That story looked at fatal incidents from Mount Pocono to Smithfield Township.

Months later, a series of shootings occurred in Tobyhanna. Five suspects, including one juvenile, were eventually charged in the shootings, which injured four people.

According to police, the shootings stemmed from a case of mistaken identity.

"Through very hard and long and arduous police work, we were able to put this together, we were able to get these individuals in custody." Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department Chief Chris Wagner said.

These incidents prompted careful discussion and examination in the newsroom: is there an uptick in gun violence? Is it worth analyzing in a series? Should we?

Reporters interviewed Monroe County First Assistant District Attorney Michael Mancuso for the first installment of the series, who said that based on anecdotal evidence, crimes involving firearms have increased in the area over the past year.

“Everybody I have talked to, all of my colleagues, they all agree with me that we’ve definitely seen an increase in crimes committed with firearms over the last year or so,” Mancuso said. “But I just can’t quantify it.”

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Pocono Record's series on gun culture and violence