Dec 9, 2017 2 min read

A Washington County jury on Thursday found a Crafton man not guilty in a nonfatal 2015 shooting in the basement of a Canton Township home.

Jurors acquitted Michael Suehr, 59, of Crafton on a charge of aggravated assault following a trial that began Tuesday before Judge Gary Gilman. The case stemmed from an Aug. 8, 2015, incident in which state police said Suehr shot his girlfriend’s adult son, John Dingle, during a dispute in the basement of her Canton Township home.

“I always believed it was self-defense, and that’s how the jury saw it,” said Joseph Horowitz, Suehr’s attorney. “And I appreciate the jury’s consideration of the case.”

Horowitz said his client was the one who called 911.

State police Trooper Thomas Kress Jr. wrote in an affidavit of probable cause that police arrived that evening to find Suehr in the driveway of Peggy Dingle’s Hilltop Lane home with his hands up. He reportedly told police he had a gun in his pocket, and police found a handgun in his front pants pocket.

Police found John Dingle lying on the basement floor with a wound from a bullet that had hit him in the stomach before lodging in his leg.

Dingle reportedly told police that night that Suehr had pulled a handgun and shot him during an argument over a washing machine. During his trial, both sides agreed he’d pushed Suehr or initiated some other form of aggressive physical contact with him, but differed over subsequent events that ended with Suehr shooting the other man.

Horowitz said Suehr had gotten caught up in a fight between Dingle and his mother. Suehr and his girlfriend said on the stand that her son had knocked her out. Suehr testified he then pulled out the gun and told Suehr to leave the house before Dingle lunged at him and Suehr shot him. Dingle maintained he’d merely pushed his mother out of the way and denied rushing at Suehr.

Horowitz said jurors deliberated about half an hour before coming back with the verdict.

“We respect the jury’s decision and appreciate the work of the state police on the case,” said Assistant District Attorney John Paul Lewis.