A Marshburg woman was arraigned early Friday on allegations that she fired a rifle in the vicinity of state police at her residence Thursday evening.
Sharon Ann Vandrish, 60, of 3618 Route 59, is charged with two counts each of terroristic threats, first-degree misdemeanors; recklessly endangering another, second-degree misdemeanors; and harassment, summary offenses.
According to the criminal complaint, on March 13 Vandrish’s brother, a law enforcement officer in Canada, contacted state police to request a welfare check on his sister as he was concerned with her mental state.
On March 21, Vandrish set off a panic alarm at her residence and troopers responded. On April 29, troopers were called because Vandrish’s neighbors were concerned that she was constantly yelling and shooting in her backyard after several arguments they had, the complaint stated.
On May 1, troopers responded to another panic alarm at her residence, and she livestreamed the response to YouTube. She set off her vehicle’s alarm, and as troopers approached she yelled, “I have the right to shoot you, yes you are being recorded, yes you are on my property, yes this is going to the CIA, you are committing an act of terrorism. I am the judge, you are intimidating a witness,” the complaint stated.
On Thursday, state police reported the information to the McKean County Mental Health Crisis Unit, and a warrant was issued for an involuntary commitment for a mental health evaluation. At 7:20 p.m., troopers went to her residence to serve the warrant, and began to establish a perimeter, with a trooper on each side of her property in the woods. Vandrish set off her home and vehicle alarms and began yelling at police to get off her property when the troopers on the perimeter radioed in that she was armed, according to the complaint.
A trooper was talking to her through the patrol car’s loudspeaker system when she fired the rifle in an unknown direction, knowing that state police were present. She reloaded the rifle and continued pacing around the property despite repeated attempts to get her to put down the weapon and walk to the patrol car. The complaint did not state how she was taken into custody.
She was arraigned early Friday before on-call District Judge Rich Luther and remanded to jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. She is scheduled to appear in Central Court on Thursday.
