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Man charged with attempted homicide

MOUNT UNION — A Mount Union man is charged with 17 counts in Armstrong County, including robbery and attempted homicide, court documents indicate.

Documents state that 33-year-old Willie J. Lunsford joined in an armed robbery on April 19 in Kittaning Borough, during which he and another man entered an apartment and threatened a visitor to that apartment with a gun. One accuser told police that Lunsford and his accomplice had entered the apartment to rob the tennant and its occupants of money and/or drugs.

Documents further state that one of the people in the apartment, who confronted Lunsford and the other man, was shot and taken to a Pittsburgh hospital for treatment. Lunsford and the other man reportedly fled the scene in a Mitsubishi Outlander.

Police reviewed surveillance video that showed the Outlander parked near the scene and showed Lunsford and the other man get out of the vehicle, walk down the alley to the apartment where the incident took place, go into the apartment entrance, then run away from the apartment a few minutes later. Police were able to identify Lunsford and the other man following investigation.

According to a news release issued by the Huntingdon County District Attorney’s office, Lunsford was apprehended by Pennsylvania State Police Huntingdon on Monday while troopers were investigating an unrelated incident on Extract Road in Shirley Township. Troopers determined Lunsford was wanted for violent felonies in Armstrong County and served an arrest warrant to Lunsford for robbery and attempted homicide. State police also reported conducting a search of a residence on Extract Road for evidence of the aforementioned charges.

“We are extremely grateful to members of PSP Huntingdon for their investigation,” District Attorney David Smith said. “What started as a routine nuisance call led to the arrest of an extremely dangerous person.”

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