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Former Derry Borough mayor, accused of pointing gun at boy, headed to trial

DERRY BOROUGH, Pa. — The case against former Derry Borough Mayor Kevin Gross is headed for trial.

Gross was accused of pointing a gun at a 15-year-old boy after an argument between him and his son. He resigned as mayor after being arrested.

The boy's family said their son is still struggling emotionally.

“Not well. Still not sleeping, nightmares, anxiety things like that, things that have already inherited the past few months," said Jason Caldwell, the stepfather of the boy.

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“To go from fighting over a marker, to pointing a 38 at somebody, you can’t make that leap. There’s no common sense there at all," Caldwell said.

The 15-year-old testified Wednesday that he was in a scuffle with two younger boys at a playground in Derry, fighting over a marker, when he heard Gross yelling, telling him to get on his knees and put his hands on his head. He said the gun was within arms length of his head.

Gross didn’t have anything to say to Channel 11 on the way in or out of court, but his attorney said the suspect had been trying to diffuse the situation.

“It was Mr. Gross, who by their own witnesses, asked that 911 be called by a number of people. So he wasn’t trying to avoid anything, he was trying to bring authority into it to make sure nothing worse happened,” said Tim Andrews, his attorney.

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Three young girls at the park also testified, saying Gross “waved” the gun at them, telling them to put down their phones.

Prosecutors asked the 12- and 14-year-old girls whether they were scared and why. They said they were worried they’d be shot.

The defense tried to argue for dropping the most serious charge of aggravated assault, but the judge refused.

“Pointing a weapon at someone is not an aggravated assault, so I’m going to ask the court of common pleas to dismiss that charge and we’ll proceed with whatever’s left after that decision,” Andrews said.