Apr 19, 2017 2 min read

A North Strabane Township man was arrested by township police after they were called just before midnight for a report of shots being fired in the Glencannon housing plan.

Stephen Joseph Buyan, 51, of 302 Cricketwood Court, is charged with reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, carrying a firearm without a license and public drunkenness.

Police received a call about 11:35 p.m. for a report of a man shooting a gun. Responding officers met near the intersection of Hunting Creek Road and Cricketwood. They cleared the area when they spotted a man, later identified as Buyan, sitting on the front step of 302 Cricketwood. Officers surrounded him and Sgt. Matthew Mancini ordered him to place his hands in the air. Buyan complied and when he put his hands up, Officer Timothy Bliss spotted a small-caliber handgun that was concealed by the tail of his shirt.

The gun was seized and Buyan was taken into custody. The gun was loaded with one round jammed.

Buyan told police that his nephew, Andrew Lawrence Pahanish, was in the home. Police found Pahanish asleep on a couch in the basement. He told police he had been drinking and passed out. He told police he had two guns and had left the one Buyan had on the kitchen table.

The neighbors reported they heard one or two shots being fired and then got down on their bedroom floor. When they looked ou the window, they reportedly saw Buyan standing on the sidewalk holding a gun in the air. They told police that small children live in homes on either side of Buyan’s residence.

Pahanish, 53, of Gap Mills, W.Va., was charged with disorderly conduct after he allegedly ignored police orders to step back during the incident.

Assisting at the scene were police from Canonsburg and Cecil and South Strabane townships.

Buyan was arraigned before District Judge Ethan Ward and placed in Washington County Jail on $50,000 bond. He is scheduled for a May 3 preliminary hearing before District Judge Jay Weller.