Parents charged with endangerment in Penn Hills case where their 5-year-old son was fatally shot

The parents of a teen accused of fatally shooting his brother in Penn Hills have been charged with felony child endangerment, according to court documents.

Five-year-old Connor Wolfe was found shot inside his family’s home along Prescott Drive on Nov. 22.

His brother, 13-year-old Keegan McGivern, is facing homicide and gun charges in connection with the incident.

Their parents, Thomas Wolfe, 35, and Sara Gerwig, 37, are both facing four counts of endangering the welfare of children, according to a criminal complaint filed by Allegheny County Police Monday.

According to the criminal complaint, Penn Hills police were dispatched shortly after 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 22 to 108 Prescott Drive for a 5-year-old boy shot in the face.

Connor was found on the bedroom floor with Gerwig performing CPR.

A 9 mm Smith & Wesson belonging to the Wolfe, the gun used in the shooting, was recovered from the master bedroom of the home, according to court documents.

Connor, a Penn Hills School District kindergartener, was taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital by Penn Hills EMS. He was pronounced dead shortly after 6:30 p.m.

McGivern’s grandmother took the teen to Allegheny County Police headquarters on Tuesday, the complaint said. McGivern told officers that on Nov. 22 he became angry with his brother and sister because they were jumping on the bed, and they wouldn’t listen when he told them to stop, according to court documents.

Police said detectives determined that four children, ages 13, 6, 5 and 3, were left unsupervised with a loaded and unsecured gun within reach.

McGivern told police Wolfe’s handgun was in a plastic holster, sitting on top of a gun safe, at the foot of the bed.

He said he knew the gun was there because “Thomas Wolfe always leaves his handgun out,” the complaint read.

Wolfe admitted to police that he left his handgun on top of the safe in the first floor bedroom, and that it was always loaded with a live round in the chamber. He uses the handgun as his every-day carry gun when he leaves the house, the complaint stated.

Gerwig told police she saw the handgun sitting on top of the safe since Nov. 20 and she knew he did not move it the following day because he was sick.