An Oil City man and his cousin from Ellwood City are facing charges for shooting at an occupied house on Route 8 in Cornplanter Township last month.
Franklin state police have identified Parker Collavo, 19, of Oil City, and Ardonta Gaines, 20 of Ellwood City, as the two suspects in the case.
Police said in a criminal complaint that on May 22, a woman called Franklin state police after she found a bullet slug in her house.
The woman said her son found a bullet slug lodged in the wall of his bedroom the next morning, and she realized the popping noises were gunshots and a bullet had struck her house, the complaint said.
The woman, whose grandson also lived in the house but was in the process of moving out, was unsure of who would shoot at her house, according to the complaint.
Police found a bullet hole in the woman’s bedroom window and a hole in the wall of her bedroom where the bullet had traveled through before becoming lodged in the wall of her son’s bedroom, the complaint said.
Ten spent 9mm shell casings and four spent .32 auto shell casings were recovered along the berm of the highway just north of the residence and police determined that the area where the spent shell casings were discovered lined up with the bullet holes in the window and walls, the complaint said.
Neighboring houses were examined for bullet holes but none were found, the complaint said.
Later in the day, the woman’s grandson gave police a one-page printout of a screenshot of Facebook messages sent to him by Parker Shea, who was later identified as Collavo, incriminating himself, the complaint said.
The grandson said he had never met Collavo but that they had “talked some smack on each other” via Facebook messenger and he had given Collavo his address but didn’t think he would show up, the complaint said.
Collavo told police his cousin, Gaines, had told him to drive to the house so he could fight the woman’s grandson, but when the grandson didn’t emerge from the house when they drove by, Gaines pulled out two pistols and began shooting at the houses, the complaint said.
He added that he hadn’t shot at the house and he didn’t know Gaines had the pistols with him, the complaint said.
Collavo has been charged with felony counts of criminal conspiracy engaging discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure and discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure as well as six misdemeanor counts.
Gaines has been charged with a felony count of discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure, two felony counts of firearms not to be carried without a license, and eight misdemeanor counts.
They were arraigned Monday, and their preliminary hearings are scheduled July 7 in Venango County Central Court.
