Dec 6, 2018 3 min read

The comment, “Shoot them,” made on social media last year during the Ringgold School District teachers’ strike was more than idle chatter, a Washington County jury decided Wednesday.

In weighing the case against George J. Shallenberger for nearly three hours, the jury of eight men and four women could have opted for either a not-guilty or a first-degree misdemeanor conviction of making a terroristic threat.

Instead, the jurors chose to convict Shallenberger, 45, of Union Township, of a more serious third-degree felony due to causing occupants of a building to be diverted from their normal or customary practice.

Judge Valarie Costanzo cautioned those present not to react when the foreman announced the verdict, regardless of the outcome, saying, “I understand it’s an emotional case for members of the family.”

Shallenberger’s wife, Sandra, burst into tears when she heard the verdict, but he motioned for her to calm down.

The defendant remains free on bond, and his sentencing has been set for early March.

On a community Facebook page on Nov. 9, 2017, Shallenberger posted the comment, “Let’s raise taxes for these worthless (expletive)!! … They sure have nice cars for not making any money, (Expletives),” and “Easiest job in the world but they need more money. Shoot them and start over.”

The day before, Shallenberger had posted on his own Facebook page, “Happiness is a warm gun,” the title of a Beatles’ song, and the words, “Guns don’t kill people, I kill people,” – a quotation from the movie “Happy Gilmore.”

Shallenberger, a welder who worked a midnight shift in Munhall, never acted on his threat, his attorney, Neil Marcus, noted, and the defendant testified the day he wrote the “Shoot them” post, he followed his usual routine, retiring to bed for several hours of rest.

Police awakened him that afternoon, placed him under arrest and he was jailed for five days, losing his job as a result.

Assistant District Attorney Nathan Michaux, trying his second case in Washington County Court, referenced violence that has beset schools when questioning Shallenberger in court on Tuesday.

The prosecutor tried to pin Shallenberger down on whom he was threatening and his intent, but he replied several times that he was “just running my mouth.”

The defendant pleaded guilty in Washington County Court in 2000 to a charge of recklessly endangering his then-girlfriend, now wife.

Marcus called the earlier matter “a kerfuffle,” a minor dispute over whether a dog should have been allowed to sit on furniture.

Shallenberger appeared in court on the earlier charge without an attorney, Marcus said. He was sentenced to serve a year’s probation, during which he was to surrender his weapon to Union Township police, according to online court records.

Ringgold teachers picketed school buildings and the central administration office from Oct. 18 to Nov. 21 of last year. They were given the option of seeking refuge inside district buildings the day the threat appeared online.