126499458_web1_wvc3_faa

H.S. Wrestling: A look at the District 2 Class 3A championship field

Blue Jays expect to play in Florida, Buffalo and Toronto

NANTICOKE &mdash; A man wanted on a petition to revoke bail on various criminal cases suffered a fatal gunshot wound to his abdomen by a bail bondsman who may have defended himself inside a residence on Fairview Drive in the Hanover Section of Nanticoke Thursday afternoon.
				Nanticoke police responded to 83 Fairview Drive at about 2 p.m. for a report of &ldquo;shots fired,&rdquo; and found a man with a gunshot wound to his abdomen, said Luzerne County First Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce.
				Sanguedolce said a preliminary investigation shows the bail bondsman was at the residence to take an individual into custody on criminal warrants.
				Sanguedolce later confirmed Thomas Worthy Painter was the person allegedly shot by the bail bondsman. Property and criminal records connect Painter, 26, to that address, and indicate he was facing a bail revocation hearing on Friday in county court.
				&ldquo;A preliminary investigation revealed a bail bondsman had come in search of that individual responding to a court&rsquo;s order due to a warrant to take him into custody. The bondsman was invited into the residence. As he entered to take the individual into custody, the individual pulled a weapon. The bondsman responded with gunfire and struck the individual who was the subject of the warrant,&rdquo; Sanguedolce said.
				Painter was transported to Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre Medical Center. Painter&rsquo;s lawyer, Lawrence Kansky, said he died at the hospital.
				Sanguedolce said the bondsman, whose name was not released, volunteered to be questioned by investigators. Other people inside the residence were also questioned, Sanguedolce said.
				No other injuries were reported.
				&ldquo;As far as we know, we do not believe (Painter) fired a weapon; he pointed it at the bail bondsman is what the initial indications tell us,&rdquo; Sanguedolce said.
				Legal proceedings
				Court records say prosecutors on Feb. 5 filed a motion to revoke Painter&rsquo;s bail on several open criminal cases. A bail revocation hearing was scheduled to be held Friday before President Judge Michael T. Vough.
				Painter was recently arrested by police in Plymouth, Wilkes-Barre Township and Hanover Township. State police troopers with the Gaming Enforcement Bureau at Mohegan Sun Casino in Plains Township filed drug possession charges against Painter on Dec. 28.
				According to court records, Plymouth police charged Painter with initiating a pursuit that involved a crash at West Main and Washington streets on Aug. 18. Painter attempted to escape custody by swimming across the Susquehanna River where he was arrested by Hanover Township police.
				Wilkes-Barre Township police charged Painter with initiating a pursuit and crashing into two occupied vehicles before crashing into a support pole near Big Lots in the East End Centre on Nov. 16. A loaded handgun was allegedly found inside Painter&rsquo;s wrecked vehicle and 3.8 grams of methamphetamine was found in his pants pockets.
				Painter was arrested by Hanover Township police and Luzerne County Drug Task Force after he allegedly sold heroin and fentanyl on East Grand Street, Nanticoke, on Sept. 24.
				Attorney&rsquo;s account
				Kansky explained Painter was released from the Luzerne County Correctional Facility in early January when his grandmother posted his bail. Earlier this week, Kansky said Painter called the bail bondsman and requested bail money be returned to his grandmother.
				&ldquo;He was going to spend a night in jail until the revocation hearing,&rdquo; Kansky said.
				According to Kansky, the bail bondsman was invited into the residence and went to a bedroom where Painter was located.
				Kansky said Painter wanted to do drugs before he went, and reached for a rifle when he was shot.
				&ldquo;He probably wasn&rsquo;t in the right frame of mind,&rdquo; Kansky said. &ldquo;I liked the kid; I feel sorry for Thomas and his family. He could have been saved. It&rsquo;s very sad all around.&rdquo;
				Kansky said he was not at the residence when the shooting occurred.

Wanted man dies after Nanticoke shooting