McAdoo man jailed after state police say he fired handgun inside apartment

Aug. 3—FRACKVILLE — A McAdoo man was jailed Thursday after being charged by state police with firing a handgun inside his apartment, which is above a borough restaurant.

Jarett D. Evanco, 23, of 103 S. Kennedy Drive, was charged by Cpl. Mark Knock of the Frackville station.

Evanco faces one felony count of discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure; and one misdemeanor count each of reckless endangerment, terroristic threats, possession of a small amount of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He was arraigned by on-call Magisterial District Judge Edward J. Tarantelli, Frackville, and committed to Schuylkill County Prison, unable to post $100,000 straight cash bail.

In paperwork filed with the court, Knock said the incident occurred around 1:35 a.m. Thursday in an upstairs apartment at 101 S. Kennedy Drive.

Knock said troopers received a call from a woman, who reported hearing a man and woman screaming and then saw a bright flash and heard a loud bang like a gun firing.

The trooper said that he spoke with Evanco's brother, William Evanco, who said there was an altercation earlier and that his brother fired a handgun inside the apartment.

Jarett Evanco was interviewed and said that the woman who called police was causing a disturbance and smashed his living room door. He also said that he shot his firearm outside a window, Knock said.

A subsequent search of the apartment uncovered a Glock 9 mm handgun along with a small amount of marijuana and a metal smoking pipe.

Evanco also admitted that the weapon, marijuana and paraphernalia were his, Knock said.

Later at the Frackville station, Evanco said that he shot the weapon inside the apartment, where a shell casing had been found.

Knock said Evanco then said he was "messing around" and decided to shoot a round inside his residence to scare everyone away.

A preliminary hearing for Evanco has been scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Aug. 16 before Tarantelli.

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