Police charge 19-year-old who shot himself in foot with unlawful carry
A Lower Burrell man was charged with carrying a gun without a license after police say he got drunk and shot himself in the foot while showing off the weapon to a friend.
Logan Robert Farr, 19, of Violet Drive was charged by Lower Burrell police with a felony count of carrying a firearm without a license in connection with the Nov. 20 incident. Farr also faces lesser charges of recklessly endangering another person and underage drinking.
Police said they began investigating after Allegheny Valley Hospital officials notified them that a man arrived for treatment of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the ankle and foot, according to a criminal complaint.
The hospital identified the patient as Farr and said he was intoxicated, the complaint said.
Police also learned from hospital personnel that the shooting happened behind the Community Market grocery store in the Hillcrest Shopping Center in Lower Burrell, according to the complaint.
Police searched the area and recovered a Makarov 9mm semiautomatic handgun with blood on it, the complaint said.
On Nov. 24 Farr agreed to be interviewed by police. He told them he and a friend were behind the grocery store loading up wooden pallets that they planned to use for a bonfire.
Farr told investigators he had been drinking heavily that day. He had the gun in the waistband of his pants while sitting in the passenger’s seat of his friend’s pickup truck.
He told police that his finger was on the trigger when he pulled it out and the firearm discharged as his friend got into the truck, the complaint said.
Farr initially told police that he tossed the gun “in the river” before going to the hospital for treatment, but admitted that wasn’t true when they told him that they had recovered the weapon, according to the complaint.
Police said they got a search warrant for Farr’s medical records. They determined that his blood alcohol level was 0.18% when he went for treatment, which is more than twice the state’s 0.08% legal limit to drive.
Farr told police he got the gun from a friend but refused to provide them with a name. He also told them he was not aware that the ownership of handguns must be recorded when they are transferred to another person, the complaint said.
Pennsylvania residents must be 21 or older to carry a gun in public.
When police interviewed Farr’s friend, he told them that after the shooting, Farr put a makeshift tourniquet on the wound and then threw the gun out as they were leaving the shopping plaza to go to the hospital, the complaint said.
The man told police that Farr was drinking bourbon that day and kept the empty bottle, which had a bloody handprint on it, to remind him of what happened, the complaint said.
Farr faces a preliminary hearing Jan. 25 before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec.
Tony LaRussa is a TribLive reporter. A Pittsburgh native, he covers crime and courts in the Alle-Kiski Valley. He can be reached at tlarussa@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.