WILLIAMSPORT — We have new information about a shooting that happened last night in Lycoming County.
Witnesses say a woman shot her ex-boyfriend several times in a church parking lot because she says he cheated on her.
In addition to the shooting happening in a church parking lot in broad daylight, witnesses say there were several children nearby who saw everything.
One family tells Newswatch 16 they want to move out of Williamsport after their 8-year-old daughter saw the shooting.
Police in Williamsport blocked off the parking lot of St. John’s Newberry United Methodist Church. This is where police believe Christina Emerick, 23, of Williamsport shot her ex-boyfriend, Christopher Downs, around 6 p.m. Monday.
“Right there where my daughter and her friends were standing. That’s just a little ridiculous,” Rose Vought said.
Vought lives near Newberry Street, where the shooting happened. She said her 13-year-old daughter and her friends were walking outside and saw the shooting.
“They automatically took off across the street and went in her friend’s back door,” Vought said.
Neighbors say the shooting happened while many people came home from work, and children played outside. Jeff Taylor’s daughter was outside, and he sprang into action and broke up the fight after he heard the gunshots.
“I just kind of came up behind her because she had her back to me. I grabbed her arm and shoved her down. The gun fell on the ground. I picked it up and threw it on the bank,” Taylor said.
Police charged Emerick with attempted homicide. Several witnesses say they heard Emerick yell, “I hope you die. I should have took your life, I wish I did.”
Neighbors said that while Emerick continued to beat Downs with the gun, they heard her accuse him of being with another woman.
“If it’s a domestic dispute, she should have kept that at home instead of doing it when my daughter and her four friends were 100 feet away from them,” Vought said.
Christina Emerick is in the Lycoming County Prison, unable to post bail. Christopher Downs is listed in critical condition at Geisinger Medical Center near Danville.
