ALTOONA, BLAIR COUNTY - Two days after a teenage boy is shot and killed Altoona, plenty of questions remain unanswered. The Blair County District Attorney's Office met this morning to decide whether to charge the alleged shooter, but couldn't reach a decision. They tell us they'll continue the investigation and make a call after the New Year.
Police say it happened on the 100 block of East 3rd Avenue in Altoona.
We've confirmed that it was 16-year-old Jesse Mcelhinney who was shot and killed on Altoona's east side Wednesday afternoon.
Family and friends say another teenager and Mcelhinney were playing with a gun, when it went off, it shot Mcelhinney in the head.
The shooting leaves a family heartbroken, and a community wondering "What If"?
WTAJ News went to the victim's house, and spoke to his brother and a family friend.
He found that this tragedy seems eerily similar to an accidental shooting earlier this year.
Jesse Mcelhinney's family and friends tell us that he was a good person. A normal teenager who loved baseball and skateboarding. He'd shovel his neighbor's sidewalks and mow their lawns.
Michael Alexander's known Jesse Mcelhinney's family for years. He says the alleged shooter, and Jesse were good friends.
"They were very close, he was here almost every day... He was a good kid, he really was, people just make stupid mistakes every now and then..."
Kenneth Mcelhinney is Jesse's brother, and he agrees.
"Any time me and Jesse would fight with one another, our friend would jump right in and stick up for us and he would settle the argument."
In July, Everett High student Neal Hammond was accidently shot and killed at his friend Cole Mcconoughey's house in West Providence Township, Bedford County. Both boys were 15 years old. Mcconoughey was charged as an adult with aggravated assault among other charges. Authorities said Mcconoughey pointed at Hammond and pulled the trigger, believing it would click past an empty chamber.
Tom Engle owns Hunter's Warehouse in Bellefonte. He says in his experience, its people getting guns without going through background checks that leads to attacks on innocent people like in Connecticut, or an accidental shooting. Like in Everett, and possibly now in Altoona.
"It's these avenues of obtaining guns of letting a private person sell to anybody that they want, without proper paperwork, without properly making a determination of the individual and just handing them a gun knowing nothing about them."
Kenneth Mcelhinney wants others to learn a lesson from his brother's tragic death.
There's no word from police as of now on whether they're considering this an accidental shooting and we aren't allowed to release the shooter's name. Jesse Mcelhinney's viewing will be on Saturday from 3-7 pm at Pleasant Valley Assembly of God. The funeral will follow at 7pm.
