Man Allegedly Pulls Gun On Neighbor For Throwing Weeds In His Yard

INDIANA COUNTY (KDKA) -- It was neighbor versus neighbor in Indiana County when one man was pulling weeds and the other decided to pull a gun Tuesday afternoon.

The victim in this case told KDKA-TV's Ross Guidotti that he and his next-door neighbor Thomas Burkhart have had issues in the past, but nothing that made him think his life would ever be in danger. That is, until Tuesday.

David Neff says all he really wanted to do was pull some weeds in his Cherry Hill Township garden.

"Yeah, I'm weeding my garden, and I don't wanna get shot in the chest," he said.

That almost happened when, according to investigators, his neighbor, 65-year-old Thomas Burkhart, came over, enraged and armed.

"I guess a weed [was] thrown in his property. And I was throwing them behind my rhubarb on my property," Neff said.

Burkhart then allegedly jumped the fence separating the properties and pulled out a revolver, pointing it at Neff's head, the entire time screaming, according to Neff, "I'm gonna freaking blow your head off."

Terrified, but tough, Neff started swinging.

"Human instinct took over, and I drilled him," Neff said.

Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter

Neff said he kept whaling away at Burkhart as Burkhart allegedly kept pointing the gun all over the place and just kept on screaming, Neff says, "I'm gonna freaking shoot you."

State troopers showed up and took Burkhart into custody. Neff says he still can't believe it all happened.

"This right here put the fear of god in me," he said. "And it takes a lot to scare me."

"It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense in the big scheme of things," Indiana County DA Pat Dougherty said on the confrontation.

Dougherty listed the charges Burkhart now faces: "Aggravated assault, terroristic threats, simple assault, harassment, you name it."

"We're getting to the point where we've lost all civility," he said.

Burkhart is free on $25,000 bond. He faces a preliminary hearing on July 18.