Son shoots father in stomach after argument over weed eater in Pennsylvania

Saman Shafiq and Judy D.J. Ellich, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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A Pennsylvania State Police SUV is parked outside the Troop E headquarters on May 2, 2020, in Lawrence Park Township.

A 20-year-old man in Jenner Township, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh was arrested after he allegedly shot his own father over a domestic dispute at his residence.

Mason Jack, 20, is facing charges of aggravated assault, simple assault and harassment, according to the Pennsylvania State Police.

The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon, just after 2 p.m., said the state police, who responded to a report of a shooting that occurred during a domestic-related altercation.

Upon arriving at the scene, the police found a 47-year-old man who had been shot in the stomach.. His name has not been released.

First responders performed life-saving measures and transported him to a local hospital. Police said the victim suffered "moderate abdominal injuries to the stomach wall and colon."

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Weed eater fight escalates to shooting

Police say that an investigation determined that Jack and his father were involved in a physical altercation which led to the injury.

Police records show that the incident happened while the two were cleaning out a relative's garage. They started disputing over a weed eater that was not working and exchanged words after which Jack left and went to his house. About five minutes later, his father came to the house and began to yell at him, Jack told the police.

Jack came down the stairs with his gun by his side and when his father saw him, he, also pulled a gun out of a holster he was wearing and pointed it at his son.

The two then began to struggle over the guns, as per the police report. At one point the son told his father he would put his gun down if his father would do the same. While they put the weapons down, they started exchanging blows, during the course of which Jack went back to his room and retrieved a second weapon, a .357 Magnum, according to the affidavit.

Jack told police he had lost his glasses, and he could not see clearly what his father was doing when he came back to the living room, but it looked like his father was looking for something. He thought his father might be looking for his gun, so he fired one round at his father when he was about 5 to 6 feet away, police said.

The police investigation determined that the single shot was fired from a .357 magnum revolver, which struck the victim in the stomach area.

The accused was taken into custody and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for next week on Oct. 18.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Weed eater argument turns violent, son shoots father in Pennsylvania