Brothers charged with firing gunshots in Mahoning
Richard Ricany
Dylan Ricany
Two brothers have been charged with firing gunshots Tuesday evening in Mahoning Township.
According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by police officer Corey Frey of the Mahoning Township Police Department:
At 10:21 p.m. Frey was dispatched to the area of Nis Hollow Trailer Park for a report of several shots being fired from an area in the trailer park.
Frey requested assistance from Lehighton Borough police officer Joel Gulla. More shots were fired from the direction of the pond.
While checking the pond, they heard another string of about five shots that sounded like they were coming from the field east of the trailer park, and then heard more shots that sounded like they were coming from the trailer park.
Gulla and Frey talked to multiple residents, who said they believed the shots came from a lot. Gulla and Frey went to the lot and found several empty shell casings on the ground.
Lehighton Borough police officer Matt Bender arrived. A man, identified as Richard Ricany, 29, came out of the residence, followed by two women and two other men. Police ordered them to the ground.
While Ricany was going to the ground, he reached toward his right waistband, and retrieved a black handgun from a holster and placed it on the porch before going to the ground.
Frey detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from two of the men, identified as Ricany and his brother, Dylan Ricany, 27.
They denied doing any shooting, became verbally combative. They were then placed into separate patrol cars.
Frey also seized the firearm that Richard had set on the porch, a Ruger LC9 loaded with a full magazine and one live round in the chamber. Numerous spent shell casings were on the ground, which included 9 millimeter and .380.
The property owner told police she heard gunshots outside. She said she told Dylan Ricany to put the gun in the safe, but hew refused. She said she told him that if he didn’t want to put the gun in the safe that he could leave and take the gun with him, and that this is what they were arguing about when police showed up.
Another woman at the residence said the two denied firing shots but then admitted.
A Glock firearm case was on the kitchen table. The property owner said it was Dylan Ricany’s gun from his father, and he was taking it with him. The case contained a Glock 42, .380-caliber handgun, which was seized as evidence.
Richard Ricany told police his brother was shooting his Glock into the air outside, and he went outside to stop his brother from shooting but ended up being talked into shooting as well. Richard said that both firearms were shot into the air and that he and Dylan were both responsible.
Both men face charges of recklessly endangering another person; disorderly conduct — engage in fighting; and public drunkenness and similar misconduct.
Both are currently incarcerated in the Carbon County Correctional Facility in lieu of $300 bail, and are scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing May 15 before District Judge Casimir T. Kosciolek of Lansford.
Comments
Let me tell you how it should...and must be. My dad was a Drill Sargent. I had a toy gun until I was about 8. Then, I got a BB gun, only when I was proven to be responsible. My dad gave me extensive training. I was never allowed to consider a gun as a toy ever again. This means absolutely never point the gun at anything unless you are to shoot it. Gun safety, gun responsibility, and gun familiarity...always. Close supervision, safety always. You treat a weapon as a precious lady...always with respect. Then, later on military training, is very thorough.Safety is emphasized. In the military, you must assemble your weapon blindfolded. You must do this in usually two minutes or less. Range safety is emphasized over and over again. Your weapon is your “best friend.” You know your “friend’s serial #” and you know it’s whereabouts always. You clean your “friend” and know it’s status (loaded?) always. Any slip up and you are in BIG trouble. A rare second slip up and you are reassigned. That is bye-bye...forever. You lost the confidence of your officers and peers. You think this is excessive. When you go into combat you are comfortable with your weapon. You actually sleep with your weapon by your side. In combat, sometimes you need a weapon immediately. There comes a point when you leave the “combat zone” and you feel uneasy without your weapon. Please do not think that these people are treating weapons normally. I can understand how a teacher sees this and thinks that guns themselves are the problem. I can see how smart people unfamiliar with guns see stuff like this and are afraid. I was fortunate. Not everyone has a Drill Sargent father and thorough military training. I just wanted to turn this terrible situation into a positive. Even though nobody was hurt, we all have to learn from this. Only good people with guns can protect people from bad people with guns. Gun handling is a precious right. Mishandling guns is an unforgivable offense.