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North Huntingdon man accused of shooting friend in chest charged

NORTH HUNTINGDON, Pa. — Charges have been filed against a North Huntingdon man accused of shooting his friend in the chest.

The victim, Anthony Venturella, told police a much different story about what happened the night of Dec. 29 than what the suspect, Kyle Anthony Parker, first told officers.

Police were forced to wade through a number of stories that officer said Parker provided them that weren’t making any sense.

Court records showed that Parker, 18, first claimed a sawed-off rifle dropped to the floor of his mother’s home on Brownstown Road and misfired. Then, Parker said that Venturella, 23, had been playing with the gun.

Once police spoke to Venturella, he acknowledged that he heard a gunshot go off before looking down at his chest and seeing blood.

“He had stated that Mr. Parker - whether it was accidental - aimed the gun right at him and shot him in the chest,” said Detective William Henderson.

Venturella was critically hurt in the shooting and spent several days at Forbes Hospital in Monroeville.

“It went right below the victim's heart, went through his lung and came out right next to his spine,” said Henderson.

Parker faces several charges, including aggravated assault, simple assault and possession of a prohibited offensive weapon. He was ordered held in the county prison upon failing to post $25,000 bond.

Parker's preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 28.

WPXI

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