John Gustites, 67, of Sheppton is locked up on homicide charges after a shooting in the East Union Township Village on Saturday evening.
According to the court documents filed by the Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Zachary McDonald, Gustites has been charged with 3rd Degree Criminal Homicide, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, and simple assault. After being arraigned Sunday morning by on-call Magisterial District Judge Dave Plachko, he remains in Schuylkill County Prison on $250,000 straight cash bail.
Upon arrival on scene, Chief Dimmick took Gustites into custody pending an investigation. It was determined that the shooting took place earlier that morning at approximately 8:00am-9:00am. Units later arrived from the Shenandoah Borough police and assisted with securing the scene. Upon a review of evidence and statements made by Gustites, the decision was made to activate the Pennsylvania State Police Troop L Major Case Team.
The arrest documents filed by Trooper McDonald state:
On September 28th, 2024, around 8:00pm, the Schuylkill County Communications Center received a telephone call from John Gustites, who reported that he had shot his 42-year-old son, also named John Custites, around 8:30am, Saturday morning at his home on Franklin Street.
Police from East Union Township, Shenandoah, Mahanoy City, and Frackville originally responded on the first dispatch. When they arrived at the home, John was sitting on a chair on the front porch of the home and was immediately taken into custody and transported to the Frackville Barracks to be questioned.
His son, John, was found deceased in a second-floor bedroom.
While questioning Gustites, he stated he lived at the home with his son, and on Saturday morning, woke up around 8:30am, with his son in his room chasing one of their cats.
John went into his son's room to receive one of the cats when his son began demanding that he gives him the family's 2014 Nissan Pathfinder.
John stated a verbal altercation took place between the two, where he then left his son's bedroom and obtained his .357 Magnum Revolver and returned to the bedroom.
The verbal altercation continued where his son obtained a phillip head screwdriver and approached him with it.
John told investigators that he did not remember pulling the trigger but acknowledge he must have. John also admitted that he immediately knew his son was deceased. He told investigators that he didn't immediately call for emergency services because he contemplated killing himself. He then watched religious videos through the remainder of the day, which led him to eventually calling emergency services.
A search warrant would be obtained and approved by Judge Plachko where the victim was found through a the bedroom between a bed and dresser.
The victim suffered one gunshot wound to his face and the .357 Magnum revolver was found in the the kitchen of the home. The revolver also had one spent casing in the cylinder. The bullet was recovered in the wall of the victim's bedroom and traced through a headboard of the bed and into the wall indicating a downward trajectory.
The victim would be pronounced deceased at the scene by Schuylkill County Deputy Coroner Al Barnes.
John Gustites remains locked up in Schuylkill County Prison with a preliminary hearing scheduled before Magisterial District Judge Anthony Kilker in Shenandoah on October 10th, 2024.
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