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A man shot during an alleged home invasion has been charged for the break-in.
Evans City-Seven Fields Regional Police filed charges Monday against Mark W. Shearer Jr., 49, of Pittsburgh, including felonies burglary and trespass, as well as misdemeanor terroristic threats.
According to police, Shearer was still being treated at a Pittsburgh hospital as of Monday, but he could be released soon.
After being shot twice Saturday night, Shearer had been taken by medical helicopter from a landing zone set up at the Evans City Middle School football field, according to charging documents.
Police said Shearer broke into the Evans City home to confront his estranged wife and her boyfriend.
The estranged wife told officers in an interview that she had been receiving threats occasionally since they began the divorce process earlier this year. She told officers Shearer had recently found out about her new boyfriend, who owned the home where the shooting took place.
“(The wife) stated she had received a text message from Mark Shearer on Oct. 29 stating that he would kill her boyfriend,” said the investigating officer.
Police said they found signs of forced entry, a storm door on the east side of the home that had been dislodged from its base. Police said the door led to another door providing access to the basement, and that door's hinges were broken off the frame.
The estranged wife said the inner basement door had been reinforced with a two-by-four due to a previous incident, which was not expanded upon in the affidavit.
According to both of their statements to police, the estranged wife and her boyfriend were upstairs in a bedroom with the door locked, and a child was in another room.
The boyfriend told police Shearer broke into the room with a pistol, yelling he was going to kill him. Though not in the complaint, police had said previously that the pistol Shearer was holding was taken from his estranged wife's purse, which was downstairs in the home.
“At this time (the boyfriend) stated that he went onto the floor adjacent to the bed on his knees and Mark Shearer placed the barrel of the handgun to his temple and again stated he 'was going to kill him,'” police said.
According to the police, the boyfriend was able to get to his own pistol and shoot Shearer twice. Police said the first shot hit Shearer's thigh, and the second hit Shearer's right shoulder. Police said Shearer exited the room and fell down the stairs.
“At this time (the estranged wife) threw a towel down the stairs to Mark Shearer and told him to put pressure on his wounds,” police said.
Police said the 911 call was made as the towel was being thrown down and Shearer then crawled into the kitchen, which is where EMS found him upon their arrival.
In his call with Butler County 911, the boyfriend was asked to leave the gun on the couch and exit the house if possible. Police said when they arrived, the boyfriend, the estranged wife and the child were outside the home on the front porch.
The affidavit did not contain any information about any interviews conducted with Shearer.
Following his release from the hospital, Shearer will be arrested and arraigned before District Judge Wayne Seibel, who will set bail at that time.
