St. Clair couple charged after police called to home for shots fired during domestic dispute

A Bolivar man narrowly escaped injury Sunday after his wife fired shots at him during a domestic dispute at their St. Clair home, according to state police.

Troopers said there was a bullet hole in the man’s pickup truck.

Both husband and wife, who are separated, were denied bail Monday. Fauna J. McDowell, 34, of St. Clair, is charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, terroristic threats, simple assault and reckless endangerment.

Justin R. McDowell, 34, is charged with terroristic threats and simple assault for threatening her with a gun.

Justin McDowell told police he went to their Pennsylvania Lane home, south of New Florence off Route 711, around noon Sunday to retrieve some tools and other items while Fauna McDowell was not home, according to court papers.

Fauna McDowell showed up, blocked him in and got confrontational by pushing and hitting him, troopers said. Justin McDowell grabbed his handgun from inside the pickup and pointed it at her, knocking her to the ground while she was pulling items out of the truck. He then demanded she go inside the house, according to court papers.

Police said she did, and retrieved her handgun, firing two shots toward the pickup while Justin McDowell stood nearby. He drove away and called police. Troopers recovered two spent shell casings from the front porch.

The couple has been married since June 2015, according to Westmoreland County records. Neither suspect had an attorney listed in online court records. They were being held at the county jail.

Preliminary hearings are set for Friday.