Food stamps sparked shooting at Bucks Co. office: court papers

LOWER BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. — A woman who fired shots that shattered a window at the Bucks County Assistance Office last month was angry about potentially not getting food stamps, court records say.

April Campbell Precha, 37, of Bristol Township, upset that she might not be reissued a food stamp card, allegedly threatened on social media to shoot the Bucks County Assistance Office just before authorities said she opened fire opened, according to Patch’s criminal complaint.

Bristol Township police say Precha allegedly posted two threats on her Facebook page around the same time a bullet shattered the front window of the district office in the 1200 block of Veterans Highway on Sept. 18.

The posts say:

“Sitting in the welfare office was mad because they told me I might not be able to get my food stamp card that someone stole from me because I have an address, but I’m homeless. Now what do you think I’m going to do?” . Lol #SNAPOUT#.”

“It will be the first shooting at the BUCKS COUNTY ASSISTANCE OFFICE if I don’t get my food stamp card through God today.”

Falls Township police arrested Precha the next day. She was charged with four felonies, including aggravated assault, discharging a firearm into an occupied building, other firearms violations and related offenses, and one felony count.

She is being held at the Bucks County Correctional Center on $1 million bail.

The criminal complaint states that police responded to a report of a misdemeanor at the district office and found a broken front window near the glass front entrance, as well as a bullet casing and a handgun holster in the parking lot behind the broken glass.

The affidavit states that Precha was at the office looking for a replacement food stamp card after she claimed her card had been stolen, employees said. She was then upset when staff told her they needed a copy of a police report before they could issue her a new card.

A caseworker said she tried to help Precha, but she became upset and began yelling for a supervisor before storming out of the building, the complaint said.

A clerk told police he was sitting at his desk, which faced the front doors of the building, when Precha left the office.

The complaint says he saw her standing in the parking lot and, in his opinion, making “angry hand gestures.”

The clerk said he looked at his desk when he almost immediately heard a loud banging noise and the shattering of glass. When he looked up, he saw Precha walking towards a fast food restaurant.

Caseworkers provided police with a copy of Precha’s driver’s license, which police then matched with photos on Precha’s social media accounts, including the photo in which she allegedly made the threats shortly before the shooting, the report said affidavit.