From Pennsylvania State Police
An Osceola Mills man was arrested by troopers Saturday after he fired a single round from a 9mm handgun at a passing vehicle late that afternoon. No one was injured in the incident, which occurred around 5:39 p.m. on SR 22 westbound at Harry Boring Road in West Wheatfield Township, Indiana County.
Elijah Nicklas Helmick, 23, was taken into custody without incident and charged with Aggravated Assault, Propulsion of Missiles into an Occupied Vehicle or Onto a Roadway, and Possessing Instruments of Crime. He was arraigned yesterday before Magisterial District Judge Robert Bell, Sr. and was remanded to Indiana County Jail in lieu of $50,000 monetary bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 21 at 11:30 a.m.
On April 10, 2021 at 5:39 p.m., Troop A, Indiana received a report of a shooting reported to have occurred along SR 22 in West Wheatfield Township, Indiana County. The complainant, a 31-year-old female of Derry, PA, reported that someone in a white Volkswagen, which was also traveling west on SR 22, had just shot at the vehicle in which she was traveling, namely a 2015 Jeep Renegade. Several minutes later, defendant Helmick also contacted Troop A, Indiana and reported that he had shot at a vehicle and he was now in the area of Power Plant Road.
A responding Indiana Patrol Unit member located Helmick and the involved white 2015 Volkswagen CC sedan. A single shell casing was observed inside the vehicle on the back seat. Helmick was detained without incident and the involved firearm, a Ruger EC95 9mm, was located inside the vehicle and was seized.
Responding troopers also located the Jeep and made contact with the occupants, none of whom were injured. Troopers learned that the Jeep was occupied by the complainant and four additional persons: two 31-year-old males of Derry, PA; an 8-year-old female of Derry, PA; and a 12-year-old female of Latrobe, PA. Upon inspecting their vehicle, troopers observed a single bullet hole in the driver’s side rear door just under the window. The bullet was found to have lodged in the door and did not enter the passenger compartment.
Upon further investigation, troopers learned that the occupants of the two vehicles, who were not previously known to each other, had an encounter a short time earlier as they were traveling on SR 22 westbound in Cambria County. That encounter, which was reported to have involved a traffic violation and a bottle or bottles being thrown from one vehicle at another, remains under investigation.
