Dog park shooting at Centerville Mills Park sparks assault case

A routine trip to the dog park at Centerville Mills Park turned into a criminal case when police were called to the Bainbridge Township site at about 4:30 p.m. on April 21 for reports of a possible shooting. Officers found a 55-year-old man with a gunshot wound and later pulled over the suspected shooter driving in the park, turning a place built for off-leash exercise into the center of a felonious assault investigation.

Court records identified the accused as Emmanuel John Mathews, 80, of South Russell, and local reporting says he entered a not-guilty plea at arraignment on April 22. He was released after posting a $50,000 bond and was scheduled to return to court on May 4 or May 5, depending on the report, before Municipal Court Judge Terri Stupica. Bainbridge Township Police Chief Jon Bokovitz said the case remained under investigation and that there was no threat to anyone else because it was an isolated event.

The dispute that preceded the shooting has been described by multiple outlets as a political argument about President Donald Trump. That context matters because it shows how quickly a shared public space can become volatile when a conversation hardens into a confrontation. Attorney Ryan Fisher said David Mattai was shot in the back while putting his dog in his car. Mathews’ attorney, Ian Friedman, said his client was verbally and physically assaulted and acted in self-defense. Those competing accounts are now part of the assault case, but for park users the sharper question is how a disagreement in a dog park reached the point where someone was shot.

The injury was severe. Sally Mattai said her husband underwent multiple life-saving surgeries and that the bullet damaged his spine and bowel area. Another report said David Mattai, a Marine Corps veteran, remained hospitalized with a bullet lodged near his spine. The incident landed with particular force because Centerville Mills Park is not just open land, but a 130-acre township park with trails, disc golf, a dining hall and an off-leash area that had become part of the local dog community’s regular rhythm.

That dog park was approved in 2018 after resident Roger Weiss proposed the idea, and volunteers raised more than $6,000 for fencing and materials. Earlier reporting said it was drawing about 50 dogs a day and was even closed for winter because the grass had worn down. That history makes the shooting feel like more than a courtroom dispute. It is a reminder that shared dog spaces depend on clear boundaries, fast intervention when tempers rise, and the kind of enforcement that keeps an everyday routine from turning into a public-safety crisis.