Landowner Frank Shaffer killed after confronting trespassing bear hunters in PA

[Skunk]

Probe continues into Red Lion man's shooting death

Frank Shaffer's firearms permit was withdrawn once because of a road-rage incident, court records show.

By Mike Hoover of the York Daily Record

Updated: 11/25/2009

After confronting a group of bear hunters over trespassing, a Red Lion man was shot and killed, and another man was wounded Tuesday in Jefferson County.

Frank N. Shaffer, 63, was upset that a group of local hunters wandered onto his family's property in Beaver Township, said Trooper Bruce Morris.

The argument escalated into gunfire, which led to Shaffer's death, and Paul H. Plyler, 23, of Summerville, getting shot once and ending up in the hospital, according to police.

Investigators are sorting through who fired first and the events which led up the shootout, Morris said. Once complete, the investigation will be turned over to the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office, which will determine whether to file charges.

"He (Shaffer) was apparently upset because they came onto this property, and things escalated into the OK Corral," Morris said.

Investigators believe at least four shots were fired between Shaffer and Plyler.

The shooting took place on Patton Road (Route 331) in a very remote part of southeastern Jefferson County. The rolling farmland and woods are sparsely populated but known as a popular hunting area for deer, bear and other wildlife. The shooting occurred about 15 miles from Punxsutawney and about 60 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

A person who answered Shaffer's home phone in Red Lion declined comment before hanging up.

Shaffer, a real estate appraiser, was involved in a previous exchange involving a firearm.

He was charged with simple assault, disorderly conduct, harassment and reckless endangerment after an Aug. 24, 2006, exchange with a truck driver on Interstate 83.

The trucker, William Coates, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, but the charges were dropped against Shaffer when Coates failed to show up at a preliminary hearing.

Shaffer and Coates each claimed to state police that the other cut him off, according to court records. Shaffer pulled off the highway to check for damages after alleging Coates threw stones at his car. While there, Shaffer claimed he had to pull a gun on Coates, who was swearing and threatening to kill him.

Shaffer sued York County and then-Sheriff Bill Hose in federal court, alleging Hose refused to reinstate his firearms permit, saying, "I find that you are not the type of individual who should be permitted to have a firearms license," according to the suit. The case is pending.

On Dec. 28, 2008, York County Judge Richard Renn ordered Hose to return the permit.

Hose eventually issued a new permit which stamped over Shaffer's picture "Returned by Order of the Court." Shaffer in the federal lawsuit alleges Hose denied his Second Amendment right to bear arms.

Shaffer's death came on the second day of a three-day bear hunting season.

In his 10-year experience at the Pennsylvania Game Commission, agency spokesman Jerry Feaser said, he has never heard of a property owner having a shootout with another hunter over trespassing.

Feaser said the death is tragic and the allegations are unfortunate. As deer season quickly approaches, Feaser said hunters and land owners should take heed to what happened.

"We tell everyone that a hunting license is not a license to trespass. You need to gain the landowner's permission before going afield, and don't wait until the day before the season to start seeking permission.

"If you do not have permission of the landowner, do not enter the property. Be respectful of the landowner," Feaser said.

http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_13865940

[P.A. Myers]

Tragic, and this fuels the anti-gun socialist weenies. Who cares who fired first, who pulled first? The truth is often elusive.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Heard a bit about this, and from what we heard they were not tresspassing... Sad...

[pmeisel]

Too bad.  Any on the board here from the area with more local buzz?

[375supermag]

Hi...
I am from the York, Pa area which is where Mr. Shaffer lived and worked.
The local paper carried a story a couple of days ago that stated that no charges would be filed against the man who shot Mr. Shaffer.
The gist of the story was that after the initial verbal confrontation, the suspected trespassers were leaving the area when Mr. Shaffer re-appeared with a weapon and shot several times striking Mr. Plyler twice, once in the back as he attempted to flee. Mr. Plyler then fired one time, in apparent self-defense, killing Mr.Shaffer.

I think Mr. Shaffer used very poor judgement...he should have informed the other party that they were trespassing and requested that they leave. If they refused, he should have called the police and let the authorities deal with the problem.
This was not the first time Mr. Shaffer's poor judgement and bad temper got him into trouble. It is hard to defend him when he shot a man in the back.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

375, This is similar to the story I heard....I would say the only diff. was they were not on his property when the incident occured... I would say you have by far the best info...thanks, I wanted to know what happened.....

[1marty]

Back in the late '50's my brother and I were deer hunting and we got lost and wandered on to another farmer's property. The farmer approched us packing a large revolver and said if we wern't off his land in 2 minutes he'd start shooting. Safe to say our feet never moved that fast. The guy who let us hunt his land said his neighbor was a hot head and exploded over everything. I expect that's what happened here.

[hillbill]

one thing people dont realize is the all people are not in their right mind all the time.after helping care for my grandfather, who was once the most down to earth and sane person i ever knew, succumb to alzheimers. ill never judge a old person the same as i did before then.without family and treatment i can see him acting just as the previous poster described.

[Skunk]

375supermag,

Thanks for the update. Sure gives the story a whole new perspective.

[375supermag]

375, This is similar to the story I heard....I would say the only diff. was they were not on his property when the incident occured... I would say you have by far the best info...thanks, I wanted to know what happened.....

IIRC, there was some question about whether the actual shooting took place on Shaffer's land, right at the property line or on an adjacent property.
The newspaper story that I read did not make that clear.

[Flash]

I too am from the area where the paper ran the complete story. When the property owner and the hunters met, the hunters were deep inside the property. When the shooting took place, the hunters were at the property line proving, they were leaving and did not want any confrontation. The property owner was involved in another incident with a firearm and his permit was confiscated only, to be returned by order of the court. He was a loose cannon according to various sources.