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Man who shot intruder unlikely to be charged
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A man who fatally shot an intruder in Baldwin this weekend won't likely face charges, Baldwin police Chief Michael Scott said this morning.
The Sunday morning shooting of Lairy Evans James-Watson, 19, remains under investigation by Allegheny County Police, the chief said, but early reports suggested he was killed in self-defense.
The man who opened fire, 51-year-old Rocco Bombara, did so after Mr. James-Watson appeared with a rifle in the front window of his home in Baldwin's Leland Point Apartments just before 2 a.m. Chief Scott said people inside the apartment told police they heard a noise, then saw a rifle-barrel appear through the Venetian blinds.
Mr. Bombara, a double-amputee who uses a wheelchair, yelled for everyone to drop to the floor before he "either fell out of the wheelchair or threw himself out" and grabbed a pistol he kept under the wheelchair's cushion, the chief said.
Mr. James-Watson fired his weapon from outside the window, striking Mr. Bombara in the hand before Mr. Bombara returned fire, hitting the intruder in the chest. Police said Mr. James-Watson fired twice, while Mr. Bombara fired a lone round.
Police found him collapsed outside the apartment. Detectives are still trying to determine why Mr. James-Watson, of McKees Rocks, apparently tried to enter the Bombara apartment, Chief Scott said.
County police could not immediately be reached for comment.
First Published January 3, 2011 12:59 pm
