SMETHPORT — Tammy Robertson was convicted in McKean County Court of recklessly shooting a Kane man, resulting in his paralysis.

McKean County District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer reported that, after a two-day jury trial, Robertson was convicted of recklessly endangering another person and was found to have violated a Kane ordinance of discharging a firearm in the borough. The commonwealth was seeking an enhancement, which the jury found, related to the use of a deadly weapon.

Police were dispatched March 3, 2022, to a Kane residence for a report of an accidental shooting. The gunshot victim was being flown to an out-of-area hospital for treatment.

Robertson said the gun accidentally discharged after she racked the slide before putting the gun away.

She told police she had been drinking all day, and the loaded gun had been on her kitchen table for several days. She said she decided to rack the slide so there was a bullet in the chamber before putting the gun in a safe, out of reach of a minor resident in the home.

A firearms expert with Pennsylvania State Police testified to the amount of pressure required for the gun to fire and the sequence of steps that must occur prior to the gun firing – all of which disproved accidental discharge, Shaffer said.

Officer William Nichols of the Kane Borough Police Department investigated the case. Assistant District Attorney Thomas Coppolo prosecuted the case on behalf of the commonwealth.

Sentencing was scheduled for Jan. 30.