Ciara Meyer: Family of 12-year-old girl shot by police say they have 'no hard feelings' towards constable

The schoolgirl was shot dead at her home in Duncannon, Pennsylvania after her father brandished a rifle at Constable Clark Steele

Caroline Mortimer
Thursday 14 January 2016 12:13 GMT
Comments
Ciara, 12, was shot dead by police during an eviction
Ciara, 12, was shot dead by police during an eviction (Facebook/Justice for Ciara Meyer)

The family of a girl shot dead by a constable as he tried to serve an eviction notice to her father has said they do not blame him.

Ciara Meyer was shot dead at her home in Duncannon, Pennsylvania on Monday after Constable Clark Steele fired a shot at her father Donald Meyer ,57, when he brandished a loaded rifle at him.

Constable Steele hit Meyer in the arm but the bullet shattered the bone and travelled through him and hit Ciara in the chest. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ron Rhodes, a relative of Ciara through marriage, told Mail Online they had “no hard feelings” towards the constable and that he had “cried for him”.

He said: “None of us in our family have any hard feelings toward him. Actually we feel sorry for him. He's got to live with this, the poor man, and he had no idea what he was walking into.

“She was such a little angel. Such a positive little girl. She was such a sweetheart.”

The constable had arrived at the Meyer home at around 10am on Monday morning - where Ciara had stayed home sick from school - to serve an eviction notice after they failed to pay $1,708.85 in rent (£1,186).

Meyer has been charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, terroristic threats and recklessly endangering another person.

He is currently in hospital and will have a preliminary court hearing on 15 January.

No charges have currently been filed against Constable Steele.

A GoFundMe fundraising page has been set up to pay for Ciara’s funeral expenses and to create a domestic violence and mental illness scholarship in her name.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in