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Reported shooting was hoax
Police searched for gunman in woods
Intelligencer Journal
Jun 16, 2009 00:42 EST
Mount Joy
By BRETT HAMBRIGHT, Staff Writer

A team of officers and a police K-9 unit scoured a patch of woods in Mount Joy Township for several hours this weekend before realizing that a report of a gunman on the loose was a hoax.

The incident began Friday night when a 911 caller reported his son, 18-year-old Brian Fry, was being chased in the woods by a man with a gun. Northwest Regional police officers responded to the man's property in the 1700 block of Milton Grove Road about 10 p.m.

Within minutes, a team of six officers from three police departments — including the Warwick department's K-9 unit — continued searching until 3:30 Saturday morning.

The search resumed about 8:30 a.m. until officers got word the report was phony. Search efforts ended about 12:30 p.m. after nearly 10 hours of investigating.

The hoax was apparently concocted by the younger Fry for a strange reason, Northwest Regional police Chief Sam Gatchell said. The teen had recently learned the location of his biological mother, but he didn't think his father would let him visit her.

"It was a ploy to go see her — a strange way to go see her," Gatchell said.

Police consulted with the Lancaster County District Attorney's office and concluded that charges weren't warranted.

"We don't know of anything he can be charged with," Gatchell said. "He didn't call police directly."

Gatchell said the 911 call was taken seriously due to the nature of the report. Personally assisting in the search, the chief was irked to find out it was a sham.

"It certainly was a drain on manpower," he said, noting that Elizabethtown police officers had to cover Northwest Regional's jurisdiction during the searches.

The plot of woods was dense and contained a ravine, Gatchell said, making for a strenuous search. Officers also knocked on doors.

The K-9 got stuck in a ditch at one point and had to be rescued. Also, officers "came back all muddy and scratched up," the chief said.

E-mail: bhambright@lnpnews.com


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wtf?? ok.. the dude is 18..therefore, NOT a minor.
he didnt make the call...then who did? if anything, he conspired to make up the lie, which came out of tax payers pockets...right?
i dont get this article at all...

well.. i guess that a good excuse to make a prank call to the cops... "i didnt know if my wife would let me go fishing with the guys, so.... im sorry!"

this whole story sounds fishy... no pun intended!
billysan30
I keep thinking about Austin Powers when Doctor Evil says "Uh-oh, someones got some daddy issues".
Hometown Hero
I agree with you Billy San WTF. The guy is 18 unless he graduated or dropped out of Special Ed there is a need for charges, there are laws to help charge Idiots with Daddy issues like this 1) False reporting, Get him to pay for the resources absorbed by all this nonsense. Lastly give the boy his Mommy sheeesh.
Boricua
i agree he needs to charged or the law needs to be changed.
whitenoise
QUOTE (billysan30 @ Jun 16 2009, 06:37 AM)
wtf?? ok.. the dude is 18..therefore, NOT a minor.
he didnt make the call...then who did? if anything, he conspired to make up the lie, which came out of tax payers pockets...right?
i dont get this article at all...

well.. i guess that a good excuse to make a prank call to the cops... "i didnt know if my wife would let me go fishing with the guys, so.... im sorry!"

this whole story sounds fishy... no pun intended!

i thought the article said that dad made the call, because of what the son said?
why?
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