“Shelter in Place” at two Mill Hall Schools after Unrelated Pellet Gun Incident

MILL HALL — State police have arrested two out-of-the area men and charged them with shooting out vehicle windows in Mill Hall and Bald Eagle Township Monday morning. While the men were being sought, the Keystone Central School District put the Mill Hall elementary school and the Central Mountain Middle School in a “shelter in place” mode until the all-clear was sounded.

State police at Lamar said they responded to the Mill Hall area around 9 a.m. Monday after numerous reports were received concerning what they said was a green Ford Explorer driven by two younger males “shooting out vehicle windows.” Police said the first known victim was Ed Miller of Flemington. He said he was traveling on Hogan Boulevard when the accused allegedly shot out a vehicle window. A second vehicle was located along Chestnut Street in Mill Hall, the vehicle owned by Christine Bower of Mill Hall; police said the unoccupied vehicle had its windows shot out.

Patrol troopers located the sought after vehicle off Route 64 just outside Mill Hall. Police said two .177 pellet guns were located in the vehicle and the two suspects admitted to trying to shoot street signs but said they never intended to strike passing vehicles. Those arrested were identified as Nicholas Hurd, 25, of Mount Joy, and Joshua Beach, 24, of Tioga. Both were taken into custody and charged with propulsion of missiles, recklessly endangering, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct.

Police said two other vehicle owners reported having windows shot out of their vehicles, the owners Justin Segura from Mill Hall and Kip Hoffman of Flemington.

The Keystone Central School District posted a notice of the incident on its website, noting it was unrelated to the school district. The district said police and the district agreed that the shelter in place should be instituted until the individuals were located. The shelter directive was in place for 20 minutes. The notice means school students will remain indoors until lifted. The district said at no time was there any danger and the two schools returned to normal operations.