Published: May 12, 2008 10:58 am         

5/12 - Man jailed after shooting

FROSTBURG - A Frostburg man was being held on $100,000 bond after shooting two young boys with a BB pellet gun Saturday night outside his home in Frost Village.

Police said Keith Jarret Nightingale, 28, formerly of Westernport, was apparently upset after the two boys put a pair of toy handcuffs on Nightingale's daughter while playing with her. Nightingale grabbed the CO2 cartridge weapon and fired multiple shots. One shot hit the face of an 11-year-old boy. The pellet traveled more than three inches and was lodged in the neck area, police said.

"You could actually feel the pellet underneath the little boy's skin," said Frostburg Police Sgt. Royce C. Douty, the officer who responded to the call. "That little boy was lucky."

Douty described the weapon's capability as "pretty powerful."

A second boy, age 7, who is not related to the older boy, was shot in the left calf. Douty said the fact that boy was wearing blue jeans prevented him from suffering anything more than "a red mark."

The 7-year-old did not require medical treatment. The other boy, who was under the care of a baby sitter at the time of the incident, was taken by Frostburg Ambulance to Cumberland Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and released. The 11-year-old's parents met him at the hospital, police said.

Nightingale was taken before District Court Commissioner Marianne Zizza before being transported to the Allegany County Detention Center. He was charged with two counts of assault in the first-degree, two counts of assault in the second-degree and two counts of reckless endangerment.

The weapon, which police said belonged to Nightingale, was recovered at the scene. Additional charges are possible.