Uniontown man charged with shooting friend after drug robbery
A Uniontown man allegedly shot his friend early Wednesday following an argument about a drug robbery they reportedly had just committed.
Larry Franklin Shaw Jr., 38, of Uniontown and William Mattie, who was not facing charges as of Wednesday afternoon, allegedly conspired to rob a man of crack cocaine.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, Mattie told police he was buying drugs from Shaw at 221 Connellsville Street when Shaw said he wanted to get crack cocaine. They selected a target, but then got into a fight with that person on Cleveland Avenue. Mattie stepped in and punched the man, then separated him and Shaw, police said.
While they were walking back to Shaw’s home, Mattie reportedly called Shaw a name, and the two began arguing. Shaw allegedly fired a shot at Mattie’s feet and legs with a .45-caliber pistol. Mattie ran, and Shaw allegedly fired another shot. Police did not describe any injuries in court documents.
After Mattie arrived home, Shaw allegedly called his cellphone repeatedly and threatened to kill him and his mother unless he gave him $40 Shaw said he owed him from the robbery.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, state police had filed a search warrant for Shaw’s home. They executed the search warrant at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday with the Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) and others. Shaw was arrested when he tried to flee from a window and onto the roof.
Police said they found a baggie of suspected crack cocaine, two digital scales, a .45-caliber pistol and a .22-caliber revolver. Shaw reportedly admitted to selling crack cocaine, saying he did it to “make ends meet.” He said the gun may have been stolen. Shaw is not permitted to possess a gun because of a 2008 felony robbery conviction.
Shaw was charged by Uniontown City Police with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm prohibited, terroristic threats, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person. In the drug case, he was charged by state police with possession with intent to deliver, possession of a firearm prohibited, firearms not to be carried without a license, possession of a controlled substance and three counts of possession of drug paraphernalia.
He was arraigned before on-call Magisterial District Judge Richard A. Kasunic, who denied bail in the shooting and set bail at $30,000 in the drug case.