May 25th, 2021 by WCBC Radio
The Tribune-Democrat reports a Northumberland County man is accused of killing a man inside a Bedford County home, striking him with an arrow fired by a crossbow. State police did not say what prompted the shooting, but said Alec Paul Rhoads, 24, retrieved a crossbow from a bedroom moments before the weapon was discharged. A Saxton-area woman said she was talking with 53-year-old Daren Lingenfelter, of Claysburg, Blair County, when the arrow struck him in the neck, causing him to collapse onto a bed, police wrote in an affidavit. Police said Rhoads was one of at least four people inside the home when the shooting occurred, and that he at first claimed Lingenfelter shot himself with the weapon before the woman told him she was next to the Claysburg-area man when he was struck. Police said Rhoads did not render aid to the man and fled the scene “when EMS was called.” Police arrived at the scene after receiving a call about the incident at 10:14 a.m., Trooper Patrick Kelly wrote in a criminal complaint.
Rhoads was arrested late Sunday at a home in James Creek, Huntingdon County, police said.
State police indicated Rhoads has told witnesses or investigators at least three separate accounts about the incident – telling a witness he was trying to load the bow before it fired and telling police investigators he was mowing a lawn in Huntington County when the incident occurred.
Police said Rhoads also told them he didn’t know Lingenfelter and never visited the residence during an interview Sunday.
But Kelly wrote that surveillance footage near the Railroad Street home showed Rhoads was in the area just after the shooting occurred.
A James Creek man told police that Rhoads arrived at his residence between 11 a.m. and noon and said they talked about the incident.
According to police, the James Creek man also said Rhoads denied shooting Lingenfelter but also added that he did not want to talk to the cops until he cleared up “his warrants.”
It’s not known if Rhoads has any active warrants. Online court records show the man served a year of probation in 2019 and early 2020 related to a harassment case and flight to avoid punishment while the case was in court.
In Bedford County, Rhoads is now facing homicide charges, including first-degree murder, third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter — a “reckless or grossly negligent” killing.
He also faces aggravated assault and reckless endangerment charges, court records show.
Rhoads is lodged in Bedford County Prison without bond.
An attorney for Rhoads was not listed Monday.
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