‘There Is No Known Threat to the Campus’: Gettysburg Police Respond to Shooting Near Race Horse Alley, Victim in Critical Condition

Department of Public Saftety (Photo Allyson Frantz/The Gettysburgian)

Department of Public Saftety (Photo Allyson Frantz/The Gettysburgian)

By Katie Oglesby, News Editor, and Anna Cincotta, Editor-in-Chief

At 9:00 a.m. on Mar. 11, Executive Director of Public Safety Bill Lafferty informed Gettysburg College campus community members about a shooting that occurred in the parking lot of Members First Credit Union early this morning.

Gettysburg Police responded to a reported shots fired call around 12:15 a.m., and found a gunshot victim on Chambersburg Street who was then transported by helicopter to a trauma center in York.

The suspect has been identified as 20 year-old Benjamin Fischer, who is currently in custody. Police obtained a search warrant for Fischer’s home following their investigation of the scene, and discovered the gun that they believe was used in the incident in his possession.

Fischer is a member of the Gettysburg community, but is not a Gettysburg College student.

Executive Director of Public Safety Bill Lafferty shared that the victim of the shooting is from the Harrisburg area, and that the individual’s “identity is being withheld pending notification of family members.”

According to information provided on the Gettysburg Police Department’s Facebook page, the victim underwent “emergency surgery for the gunshot wounds” and is currently in critical condition.

Due to an ongoing investigation being conducted by the Gettysburg Borough Police Department, a portion of Race Horse Alley near the Ice House residential complex has been blocked off and students are being told to avoid the area.

“There is no known threat to the campus,” Lafferty said. He added that the Gettysburg College community will be updated as necessary pending the availability of more details.

 

Author: Anna Cincotta

Anna Cincotta ’21 serves as the editor-in-chief of The Gettysburgian, and is a political science major with a minor in peace and justice studies. She previously served as the opinions editor, and works on campus as a Peer Learning Associate and Research Assistant for the Political Science Department. If you see her in Commons, feel free to strike up a conversation about dogs or the most recent episode of “The Daily."

Author: Katie Oglesby

Katie Oglesby ‘23 serves as the Editor-in-Chief for the Gettysburgian. She has previously served as Magazine Editor, News Editor, Assistant News Editor, and Staff Writer. She is an English with a writing concentration and political science major, hailing from San Diego, California, but now living in rural North Carolina. On campus, Katie works at the CUB information desk, is an Eisenhower Institute Fielding Fellow, and serves as co-service vice president for the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega. She spent a semester abroad in Bath, England studying British literature and politics, and spent this past summer interning with the Winston-Salem Journal in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She can usually be found perusing books in the Musselman Library browsing room.

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