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HANOVER TWP. — A woman allegedly shot a man in the neck here early Tuesday.
Audrey Grinell Ducasse, 19, of New York City, told police the shooting was an accident and the result of her playing with a firearm.
According to a criminal complaint:
Police and ambulance personnel responded to an apartment in Hanover Village at 1:41 a.m. for a report of a male gunshot victim. Ducasse emerged from the apartment with her hands up and was screaming that she “shot him” and that she “did not mean to.” Ducasse and a family member of the victim were detained.
Two children were found sitting on the couch inside the apartment. Police located the victim, identified as Norman Lynch, and a woman in the back bedroom of the apartment.
The woman, identified as the victim’s sister, was applying pressure to the victim’s throat and told police several times the gun “just went off” and it was “an accident.”
Police located a Springfield 9mm handgun on the floor between the bed and dresser.
A neighbor told police she heard yelling, which she believed to be arguing, but did not hear the gunshot.
The victim’s sister reported she saw Ducasse waiving the gun around when it went off.
In an interview with police, Ducasse said Lynch picked her up from her residence in New York on Monday. Ducasse and Lynch then went to Lynch’s sister’s apartment in Hanover Village to watch a movie. Ducasse told police she was drinking alcohol called “gasoline” and smoking marijuana.
Ducasse said she then began to play with Lynch’s gun and waved it around near him, and it went off while pointed in his direction.
Ducasse again said she did not mean to shoot Lynch.
Lynch was transported to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center for treatment. His condition was not immediately clear.
Ducasse was arraigned on charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, and recklessly endangering another person. District Judge Rick Cronauer set bail at $25,000, with added conditions that she avoid drugs, alcohol, and weapons.
She is scheduled for a preliminary hearing before District Judge Joseph Halesey at 9:30 a.m. March 14.
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