A 21-year-old Shippensburg Township resident faces a possible four-year prison sentence for his role in a December 2023 incident in which shots were fired at the home of a Shippensburg family, apparently in retaliation for an earlier fight between some teenagers.
Ashis Rai, 21, of the 100 block of Pin Oak Lane, was not the shooter in the incident.
But last week he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a firearm and several other charges as part of a plea deal that dropped the most serious charge against him, attempted murder.
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to seek a prison sentence of 4 to 12 years when Rai is sentenced in Cumberland County court later this year. If the judge accepts the recommendation, Rai could be eligible for parole in December 2027.
No one was injured in the shooting, but residents of the downtown Shippensburg neighborhood were jolted awake at 5:23 a.m. on December 13, 2023, resulting in several 911 calls.
According to police reports, up to eight shots were fired at a residential building on the corner of East King Street and South Washington Street. Police discovered several bullet holes in a window on the Washington Street side where three teenagers, ages 11, 14 and 15, were sleeping.
The teen’s mother told police she was in the bathroom when her son crawled into the room and told her someone was shooting at their house. The boy made sure the other children stayed on the floor while the shooting continued, the affidavit said.
Video surveillance cameras in the area captured two pedestrians – later determined to be 14-year-olds – stopping in front of the residence and then flashing muzzles before the suspects ran onto South Washington Street. Within two minutes, additional camera footage showed the same individuals getting into a car in the Walnut Street area of Washington.
With the help of the victims and a county juvenile probation officer, police quickly identified one of the juvenile suspects and were able to arrest him for questioning the next day.
In that interview, the teen said he heard the gunman tell Rai and a third teen that he wanted to shoot at the apartment to “send a message” to one of the teens living there about a previous fight.
He also identified Rai, then 20 years old, as the driver of the getaway car.
When they brought him in for questioning two days later, Rai admitted to having the gun in his car without a license, showing the teenagers how to use it, knowing they were planning to shoot at the victim’s house, and then agreeing to transport them to the crime scene and back home.
During that conversation, court documents say, Rai also confirmed to police that he heard one of the teens make comments such as “I’m going to shoot him” and “I’m going to kill him.”
Rai said the teens laughed about their actions when they got back into his car. Court documents also say he tried to drive the teens back to the crime scene to pick up the shell casings, but police had already arrived.
The weapon believed to have been used in the shooting was seized during a search of the third teenager’s apartment on December 15.
Given the extent to which Rai was involved in the case, defense attorney Allen Welch said he recommended the deal to his client to ensure Rai would not be convicted of attempted murder, which would carry a far longer prison sentence.
Although Rai was not the shooter, “without him, this crime would not have happened, and that could be enough to make him liable for everything,” which was the case with the teens charged in juvenile court, Welch said.
“I thought it was a fair and reasonable solution to the issues we faced.”
There was initially no information available about the penalties facing the young people involved in the case.
According to court documents, Rai was working at an Amazon facility at the time of his arrest. He has been held at Cumberland County Prison since his arrest in December, where he was released on $250,000 bail.
Jenna Wise of PennLive contributed to this report.
