mjones@observer-reporter.com

Washington County District Attorney Steve Toprani said investigators are "leaning toward not filing charges" five months after a 15-year-old Beechview boy was shot to death while hunting with relatives.

George Farah, a sophomore at Brashear High School in Pittsburgh, died after being shot by a 17-year-old male relative while they and an adult hunted on private land in Mt. Pleasant Township.

The shooting occurred Dec. 8, about an hour before the end of buck and doe rifle season. It was the only firearms-related fatality in the state during the two-week hunting season, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

"I haven't talked to the Game Commission in a matter of weeks, but as it stood last, it did not appear we are (filing charges)," Toprani said Wednesday. "It's close to being closed. We have the basic information, and a decision will be made in short order."

Toprani said in February charges were "on the horizon," although he would not discuss any specifics of the shooting. Wildlife Conservation Officer Dan Sitler, who assisted the investigation, also said at the time "there was carelessness and negligence" involved in the shooting.

Toprani would not say what has changed since February when charges appeared to be imminent.

"I can't discuss a lot of the nature," Toprani said. "They wouldn't favor charges at this time."

Meanwhile, the Game Commission this week denied the Observer-Reporter's request to view the incident report that could shed light on what happened. Nor would it release the names of the 17-year-old shooter and adult supervising the hunt.

The newspaper sent a letter to Game Commission on March 18 requesting the information and did not receive a written response until Friday.

"We generally do not release any accident reports, except to the families of the people involved," said William Pouss, chief counsel for the Game Commission. "The only thing I can say is that the investigative angle under the current (Right to Know) Act prohibits its release."

He also cited the shooter's age as being a factor in withholding the report.

Teri Henning, general counsel for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, was out of the office Friday and could not be reached for comment on whether the report should be considered a public document.

Game Commission spokesman Jerry Feaser said in February that a preliminary report stated the 17-year-old boy was standing at the bottom of a hill and fired upward and into Farah's location at the top of the hill.

The boy was struck in the chest and died 11/2 hours later at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Go to www.observer-reporter.com/OR/sourcedoc/ to view the Game Commission's letter rejecting the Right to Know request.

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