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Sleeping Baby Shot At By Lititz 'Squirrel' Hunter: Police

A 24-year-old man shooting at a squirrel fired his gun into a nursery where a baby was sleeping in its crib, authorities announced in a release on Monday, March 6, 2023. 

Dakota Leonel Johnson-Ortiz and a stock image of a baby's nursery showing a crib like the one he allegedly shot at.

Dakota Leonel Johnson-Ortiz and a stock image of a baby's nursery showing a crib like the one he allegedly shot at.

Photo Credit: Northern Lancaster County Regional PD (overlay); Pixabay/ErikaWittlieb

Dakota Leonel Johnson-Ortiz of 6 Windwood Place, Lititz later admitted to shooting a squirrel in the area at the same time the shot was heard, according to the release. 

A neighbor heard a gunshot and told a parent living in the 100 block of Guilder Place in Warwick Township who called the police after they entered their sleeping baby's nursery and found debris on the floor as well as "dust and debris from a hole in the room's drywall," the police explained in the release. 

"While removing the child from the crib, an area of new damage to the crib was observed caused by the projectile which was fired into the dwelling," the police said also noting that, "The child was not injured, and no other injuries are known to be associated with this investigation." 

The dead squirrel was "discovered under a woodpile nearby the scene of the dwelling struck by the projectile," the police release details.

Johnson-Ortiz has been charged with offenses related to shooting into an occupied dwelling, the police say and court documents confirm. 

He has been held in the Lancaster County Prison after failing to post $25,000 in bail, according to his court docket. His preliminary hearing has been set before Magisterial District Judge Edward A. Tobin on April 18, at 1:30 p.m., as detailed in the docket. 

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