Food Stamps Sparked Shooting At Bucks Co. Office: Court Records

LOWER BUCKS COUNTY, PA —A woman who fired shots that shattered a window of the Bucks County Assistance Office last month was angry about possibly not getting food stamps, court records state.

April Campbell Precha, 37, of Bristol Township was angry that she might not be reissued a food stamp card and allegedly threatened on social media to shoot at the Bucks County Assistance Office shortly before authorities say she opened fire, according to the criminal complaint obtained by Patch.

Bristol Township police state that Precha allegedly posted two threats on her Facebook page around the same time that a bullet shattered the front window of the county offices in the 1200 block of Veterans Highway on Sept. 18.

The posts stated:

"Sitting in welfare office pissed off cuz they telling me I might not be able to get my food stamp card that someone stole from me cuz I got an address, but I am homeless. Now what y’all think I’m going to do. Lol #SNAPOUT#.”

"It’s gonna be the first SHOOTING IN BUCKS COUNTY ASSISTANCE OFFICE IF I DON’T GET MY FOOD STAMP CARD TODAY ON GOD.”

Falls Township Police apprehended Precha the next day. She was arraigned on four felonies, including aggravated assault, discharging a firearm into an occupied structure, other firearms violations and related misdemeanors, and a summary offense.

She is being held on $1 million bail in the Bucks County Correctional Center.

Police had responded to the county office for a report of a disorderly person, finding a front window pane shattered near the glass front entrance, and a shell casing and handgun holster in the parking lot behind the shattered glass, the criminal complaint states.

Employees said that Precha was at the office seeking a replacement food stamp card after she alleged hers was stolen, the affidavit said. She then became upset after employees told her they needed a copy of a police report before they could issue her a new card.

A caseworker said that she tried to help Precha, but she got upset and started yelling for a supervisor before storming out of the building, the complaint states.

A caseworker told police that he was sitting at his desk, which faces directly toward the front doors of the building when Precha left the office.

The complaint states that he saw her standing in the parking lot making what he thought were “angry hand gestures.”

The caseworker said he glanced down at his desk when almost immediately heard a loud pop sound and the glass shatter. He looked up to see Precha running toward a fast-food restaurant.

Caseworkers provided police a copy of Precha’s driver’s license, which police then matched to photos on Precha’s social media accounts, including the one where she allegedly made the threats shortly before the shooting, the affidavit said.