SHENANDOAH HEIGHTS - A man was shot and killed outside his West Mahanoy Township home Saturday morning after an apparent neighborhood dispute..
Joseph Ronald Boris, 60, of 525 Indiana Ave., was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:45 p.m., according to Schuylkill County Deputy Coroner Andrew Szczyglak.
Boris died of a gunshot wound to the chest, Szczyglak said, adding that the manner of death was homicide.
Ronald Adam Kozak, 66, of 555 Indiana Ave., is accused of shooting Boris.
Kozak was arraigned by on-call Magisterial District Judge David J. Rossi, Tremont, on Saturday night, and was charged with one count of criminal homicide, two counts of aggravated assault, one count of criminal trespass, one count of simple assault and one count of recklessly endangering another person.
The shooting occurred just after 11:30 a.m. at 525 Indiana Ave., located east of the intersection with Wyoming Avenue, and brought state police from Frackville to the scene because West Mahanoy Township police officers were not on duty.
Mahanoy City Police Lt. John Kaczmarczyk used his cruiser to block off the intersection of Indiana Avenue and Wyoming keeping everyone, including residents who live near the scene, out while state troopers investigated.
About 12:40 p.m. Schuylkill County Deputy Coroner David Truskowsky arrived and was allowed access to the home where the shooting occurred. Szczyglak arrived shortly after.
According to the affidavit, Kozak and his wife went over to Boris's home, which is next door.
Boris and his wife were home.
As Kozak and his wife approached Boris's garage, Boris grabbed a hose and sprayed Kozak with water.
A fight then broke out inside the garage between Kozak and Boris, during which Boris told Kozak to leave his property.
The fight continued out of the garage and into the carport, when Kozak then took out a Taurus PT738 .380 ACP semi-automatic handgun and shot one round that struck the left side of Boris's chest.
When police arrived at the scene, they found the handgun in Kozak's right pocket.
As police were reading Kozak his Miranda Rights, telling him he had the right to remain silent, he said, "I shot him, I don't know where I hit him, but I shot him."
Kozak is being held in Schuylkill County Prison.