Woman takes Lyft hundreds of miles, fires gun where child lives with foster family, police say

A Dauphin County woman is facing a list of charges for allegedly opening fire in a Kennedy Township neighborhood where her biological child is living with a foster family.

“I thought it was a joke. I thought the gun was a toy, but then she shot at me. Everything went blank because I wanted to get the gun before somebody got killed,” said Duane Mrazec, who tackled that woman to the ground.

Police were called to Julia Lane around 6:20 p.m. Monday for a report of shots fired.

When officers arrived on scene, they found a woman, later identified as Kayla Menne, 25, of Middletown, being detained by an off-duty McKees Rocks police officer, according to the complaint.

“A girl got out of the driver-side back, pointed the gun right at me and fired a shot. That’s when everything goes blank for me. I got four kids, their dad, my wife and my dog on the street. I was four to six feet away when she shot. I could see the flash at 6 o’clock at night,” Mrazec said.

Police said one of those people Menne was shooting at was her biological child.

Witnesses told police Menne said, “They took my baby,” and that she shot at the foster parent and children as they ran away, saying that she was “trying to kill her kid,” according to court documents.

A total of nine shots were fired. No one was injured.

Menne was taken to an area hospital for an evaluation. She is facing charges of multiple counts of aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment and a gun charge. Police tell Channel 11 once she is released, she will be arrested and booked in the Allegheny County Jail.

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