Girl Shot Dead By Policeman During Eviction

Employees of the apartment complex had accompanied Steele to Meyer’s address and witnessed the shooting, police said.

A girl’s eviction shooting death is under investigation after the 12-year-old was struck by a bullet as officials attempted to remove her family from their home in Duncannon, Pennsylvania, Monday.

DUNCANNON, Pa. (AP) — The family of a 12-year-old girl accidentally shot by a constable serving eviction papers does not blame the law officer for her death or have “any hard feelings toward him”, a member of the girl’s extended family said Wednesday. He has been charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, terroristic threats, and reckless endangerment.

The man who shot him, Constable Clarke Steele, is “heartbroken” over the incident, his friend and fellow constable Bill Stoeffler told CNN affiliate WPMT-TV.

“Very kind, sweet kid“, she said.

Donald Meyer was flown to Penn State Hershey Medical Center. The school’s superintendent said that counselors would be available to help children and staff deal with the loss. “It’s terrible, absolutely heartbreaking”.

According to the police version of events, Steele approached the house in the morning.

A woman who identified herself as Ciara’s aunt posted a picture of the dead girl on Facebook Monday afternoon while asking for prayers for the family. “I thought I’d be able to spend a lot more time with her and watch her grow up and graduate, get married and everything, but that’s all gone now”. A state police rep says Steele had been to the apartment “numerous times” regarding the eviction, and that Meyer knew 10am Monday was his deadline to be out. Steele attempted to make contact with Donald Meyer, 57, who lived at the residence with his wife and daughter, but Meyer shut the door after opening it to the constable.

“He’s absolutely heartbroken over the outcome of this”, Stoeffler said.

State police said Meyer’s rifle was found “with a loaded chamber and a magazine containing 30 rounds”. The last constable election in Pennsylvania was in 2015. She should have been living here and she should have had a good life and she did not have that. They serve warrants, transport prisoners and perform other duties for Pennsylvanias district courts, the lowest level of the judiciary. Funds raised will also go toward a domestic violence and mental illness scholarship the family hopes to create with the Susquenita School District.