Man shot neighbor, self over water pipe dispute
State police say encounter turned deadly; suspect, 74, has not been charged
An ongoing dispute between neighbors on a stretch of rural road in Moore Township turned deadly Monday when one gunned the other down and then wounded himself with a gunshot, state police said.
Christopher Robbin Debellis, 42, was found dead by police in the rear of his home in the 1100 block of Moser Road around 10:38 a.m. Monday, having suffered multiple gunshot wounds, state police report. His death was ruled a homicide by Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek.
Authorities have not named the man who allegedly opened fire, except to say he was 74 and suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Trooper Nathan Branosky said authorities are treating the man as a suspect in the case, but will release his name only if he’s charged with a crime.
The man is expected to survive his injury, but is still receiving medical treatment and has not been fully interviewed for the investigation, Branosky said.
Police said Debellis was shot inside and outside his home, and his wounds indicated he’d been shot with both a handgun and a rifle. The 74-year-old
neighbor, who was conscious at the scene, told police he opened fire on his neighbor before shooting himself, according to authorities.
The initial investigation revealed that the two men, whose homes are across the street from one another along Moser Road — a quiet, woody stretch on the edge of state game lands — had an ongoing dispute over a drainage pipe, police said. The issue prompted numerous arguments and disagreements between the two over the last several months, police said.
On Monday, Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck indicated that police responded to the neighborhood earlier in the day to deal with a dispute between the men.
Moore Township manager Nicholas C. Steiner said the dispute involved the clearing of a swale — a sunken area along the road — that allowed water to flow onto the other’s property. The matter was being handled by PennDOT because Moser Road is a state thoroughfare.
“The neighbor getting the water didn’t like getting the water,” he said. “It’s sad. It’s tragic.”
In an email, PennDOT spokesperson Ron Young said a crew from the agency inspected the site in the summer at Debellis’ request and found nothing out of the ordinary with PennDOT-owned pipes. They told Debellis that water issues outside the agency’s right-of-way are the responsibility of property owners.
Diane Dietrich, who lives about three houses away from the scene, said she heard three loud bangs Monday morning but didn’t think they were gunshots until police cars sped into the neighborhood.
“It was odd to me,” she said.
She said she knows the neighbor who allegedly opened fire and was “totally shocked,” describing him as a quiet, laid-back man. She did not know Debellis, saying he only recently moved to the neighborhood after having his house built.
Another neighbor, Mary Jo Christensen, said she also heard noises she now presumes were gunshots.
“I’m just sorry the whole thing happened,” she said. “It’s so sad.”
The investigation remains open.
The Moore Township shooting is the second one this year in Northampton County involving an argument between neighbors that turned deadly.
On Feb. 23, police say, Joshua Leone, 35, shot and killed his neighbor, Kenneth Pickell, 31, following an argument on Clifton Avenue in Bethlehem Township. Authorities have not said what the two were fighting about. Court records indicated that Leone fired his shotgun and hit Pickell in the back as he was walking away.
Leone faces a single count of homicide.