SELINSGROVE, Pa. (AP) - A prosecutor says a bystander will face no charges for shooting a suspect who authorities said had just gunned down his ex-wife and another man in the parking lot of a central Pennsylvania restaurant last week.
Snyder County District Attorney Michael Piecuch said Tuesday that the man was legally justified in using deadly force to wound 55-year-old Christopher Fernanders outside the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in Hummels Wharf, Monroe Township.
Authorities said the man was waiting to be seated inside the restaurant when a man drove into the parking lot, got out of his pickup truck and opened fire, killing 52-year-old Matthew Bowersox of Mifflinburg and 46-year-old Heather Campbell of Trevorton.
The restaurant customer, who is licensed to carry a firearm, shot and wounded Fernanders as he walked back to his pickup truck. “Thankfully, he helped prevent further bloodshed,” Piecuch said.
Authorities said Campbell had obtained a protection-from-abuse order against Fernanders, but officials believe he was stalking her, citing a GPS tracking device attached to the undercarriage of her car and an empty box for such a unit found in the defendant’s home.
Fernanders has been charged with first-degree murder and related counts and remains under guard at Geisinger Medical Center near Danville. A preliminary hearing is slated July 27 at the county courthouse in Middleburg. Court documents don’t list a defense attorney and a listed number for Fernanders couldn’t be found Wednesday.
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