Steele then fired a single shot which unfortunately passed through Meyer’s arm and fatally hit his daughter Ciara, according to PennLive.
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Describing her as a social butterfly and the life of the party, the family of 12-year-old Ciara Meyer thanked the public for their ongoing support and said that the constable whose bullet killed her “did the right thing” in trying to subdue her father.
The girl was standing directly behind her father, 57-year-old Donald B. Meyer, when a constable shot Mr. Meyer in the arm, state police in Newport said Tuesday.
He has been charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, terroristic threats and recklessly endangering another person in magisterial district court, and is due to face a preliminary hearing on January 15.
“Very kind, sweet kid“, a neighbor told ABC 27 News.
Her father was flown to nearby Penn State Hershey Medical Centre but later released.
On its website, the Susquenita School District said that psychologists and counselors would be available to help children make sense of what happened at the Pfautz Apartments.
“He’s absolutely heartbroken over the outcome of this”, Stoeffler told the Post.
According to the police version of events, Steele approached the house in the morning. Steele and Meyer exchanged words briefly before Meyer “leveled” the rifle at Steele, according to police.
A neighbor whose daughter played with Ciara Meyer said that her loss was devastating.
Both Steele and Meyer are white, as was Ciara.
“We are so broken as she was just a little girl and we loved her so much”, the woman wrote. He had been sent “numerous times” to warn Meyer, Hicks said.
Police tell WHTM Donald Meyer’s rifle had a round in the chamber, and a magazine with 30 rounds.
Constables are a low-level police force in Pennsylvania, technically under the governor.
“Ciara was a loving vibrant 12 year old”, the GoFundMe page said, “(whose) life was cut short far too early”.
Rohde said the girl called him Uncle Ron, and that he and his wife were speaking for the family.
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Constables are elected or appointed officers who serve local court systems and are not members of state or local police. They work for the state’s district courts transporting prisoners, serving warrants, and carrying out other duties for the courts. They hope to use some of the money to start a scholarship fund to fight domestic violence and mental health issues.
