Advertisement Former police detective will head to trial on charges he killed gun store owner Police say Jack Edmundson Jr. shot Frank Petro at Frank's Gun & Taxidermy Shop in Tunnelton Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The Indiana County district attorney says the death penalty is still on the table as an option in the case of a gun shop owner who was shot with his own weapon on New Year's Eve.A surveillance camera at Frank's Gun & Taxidermy Shop on Hogue Drive in Tunnelton, just outside Saltsburg, recorded the shooting at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 31.VIDEO: Watch Ashlie Hardway's reportAuthorities said the video showed 43-year-old Jack Edmundson Jr. shooting 62-year-old Frank Petro four times inside the shop using Petro's gun. Edmundson was ordered to stand trial after a preliminary hearing Friday on charges including homicide, attempted arson and aggravated assault.Photos: Police investigate fatal shooting at Frank's Gun & Taxidermy Shop"The boys will never get to hug their dad. His grandchildren will never be bounced on his knee. He'll never be able to go fishing with them like he did. The boys will never get to hunt beside their dad in the treehouse they built for him. Thanks to Jack, those things will never happen," said Petro's wife, Janet, after Friday's hearing. "His whole life was devoted to safety and to have this happen, it's unbelievable."Video: Watch Ashlie Hardway's reportIn an affidavit of probable cause, Trooper Robert Valyo said Edmundson tried to extort Petro of more than $120,000 in suspected illegal lottery winnings in October. Police wrote Edmundson was posing as an undercover detective investigating the illegal lottery ring and told Petro if he gave him the winnings, he wouldn't criminally charge him."The tickets, from what we understand, appear to be legitimate tickets for different organizations. To the unwitting purchaser of the ticket, you have no reason to believe it's not a valid ticket," Dougherty said in January.Investigators said Petro's brother, William Petro, grew suspicious after learning of Edmundson's November arrest on charges of impersonating an officer after he detained two juveniles who were "corning," or throwing ears of corn at passing cars, on his property. After the arrest, Valyo wrote, the Petros contacted an attorney.That led to the shooting, police said, when Edmundson walked about 200 yards from the Tunnelton Inn parking lot to Frank's Gun and Taxidermy Shop. Police said surveillance video showed him walk inside the store, take a pistol from the display case and point it at Petro as he returned from a back room. They said he shot Petro twice, and Petro fell to the ground."What it appears is Mr. Edmundson took Mr. Petro's weapon from behind the counter and that was the weapon that was used, we believe," said Dougherty.Investigators then said Edmundson poured a black powder and an accelerant around the gun shop, at which point Petro fired at Edmundson, wounding him in the leg. Police said video shows Edmundson walk over to Petro and shoot him a third and fourth time in the face.People in the area told Channel 4 Action News that a volunteer firefighter was in a nearby bar when he heard the call and ran to the shop, where he found two people who had been shot.Officials confirm Edmundson was a detective in the Lancaster County area in the 1990s but was fired for stealing from evidence. Several officials confirm that he returned to the Indiana County area, where he one time worked as a deputy coroner and an officer for the Saltsburg Volunteer Fire Department. Officials also said he worked for various emergency medical services departments in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties.In 2010, Channel 4 Action News interviewed Edmundson regarding the killing of three women at a Loyalhanna glass shop. Edmundson, a Saltsburg resident, spoke on the impact of the crime to the local community, saying, "It's sad you have three members of the community that were killed. I think it affects the whole community."