Bullet Breaks Window in Lower Frederick

When you hear about a bullet breaking a window in someone’s home, an
assumption that the incident occurred in an urban setting is a fair one, so when Ken Ford of Lower Frederick Township found a bullet hole in a window in his home, he was understandably surprised and concerned.

Ford discovered a stray bullet during the holidays, causing nothing but property damage, but raising concerns about how the incident occurred.

Ford lives on Christina Circle in Lower Frederick Township, and when he returned home from a day of skiing with his two young children at Spring Mountain, he noticed his office window was broken, and the culprit was a .45 bullet.

The bullet hit Ford’s office window, but was found on the window sill and did not enter the house. Ford says even though it did not enter the house, it could have been a much more dangerous situation. The office is a place where Ford says he and his wife occasionally work from home and spend “ a considerable” amount of time. Having two young children in the house, and many other children in the houses surrounding him, raises even more concern.

“There’s a lot of kids in the neighborhood. It looks like a Norman
Rockwell picture any night with kids running around the streets having
a good time.”

Police Chief Paul Maxey said they do have a suspect for the incident, and they are currently following up on leads.

Maxey said a few days before Ford reported the bullet hole in his window, the police were made aware of a “makeshift range” at a house on Game Farm Road after several residents had reported automatic gunfire. When police responded, they found several individuals firing guns, among those was an M1 Garand, which is a high powered rifle used in World War II.

Though Lower Frederick is in a primarily rural area where hunting is prevalent, Maxey said he does not believe this was a hunting-related incident, and the bullet most likely came from a handgun.

Ford, who spent five years in the Marine Corp infantry, knows firsthand
the damage a .45 caliber bullet can do, but says he just wants a safe environment for his family and neighbors.

“I am not against the Second Amendment; I am not against guns. What I
am against is discharging them in a neighborhood where people can get
hurt.”

According to Maxey, if a suspect is found guilty in this case, that person will be civilly liable for the damages cause and possibly criminally liable.

Although there are no current ordinances preventing “makeshift ranges” in Lower Frederick Township, there are state laws that prohibit the discharge of certain firearms near residential areas.

“We are going to continue to investigate this until we can reach satisfactory resolution,” said Maxey. “In the end it's really not about prosecuting people; it's really not even about the damage to the window. It's about preventing this from happening again because the next time we might not get so lucky.”

Ford said he said he would like to see the township review the incident and he would also like to see if there is anything the township can do to prevent something like this from happening again, but still protect the rights of gun owners -- especially hunters. 

“I don’t want to take away everyone’s gun because I have one bullet
hole through my window. I would like to see people use them safely,
use them properly and use them legally.”