D.A.: Girl, 12, found shot to death

NORRISTOWN >> Elected officials in four Southeast Pennsylvania counties expressed concerns about the state’s plans to open a regional site to distribute the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine instead of considering a request to allocate the vaccine directly to each of the four counties.

In a joint statement issued late Thursday by officials from Montgomery, Chester, Delaware and Bucks counties, elected leaders said they are “extremely disappointed” that the Pennsylvania Department of Health is not considering their request.

“We have reiterated our concerns about establishing a regional PEMA (Pennsylvania Emergency Management

Agency) site for many reasons and we remain deeply concerned that equitable distribution will be compromised at such a site,” the leaders wrote in the joint statement.

The statement followed a meeting the leaders had with state health officials earlier this week.

“Instead of working with local elected officials and county health departments closest to the people we serve, the state has chosen to take the advice of a Boston logistics company to establish regional sites as our local mass vaccination sites sit underutilized,” the county leaders wrote. “We have highly qualified public health and safety teams in place, high-volume locations secured, and more than 500,000 people waiting on our collective lists to get their shots.

NORRISTOWN >> A 12-year-old girl was found with a fatal gunshot wound inside a home in Larchwood Court in Upper Providence Friday morning.

An investigation into the shooting death was announced by Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Upper Providence Township Police Chief Mark A. Toomey.

At 7:51 a.m. Friday, Upper Providence Police responded to a reported shooting inside a residence on Larchwood Court, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

Responding officers found a 12-year-old girl in the living room of the residence, with a single gunshot wound, the D.A. said.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

A firearm was recovered, according to the D.A.’s office.

Other family members were present when officers arrived, the D.A. said.

PHOTO COURTESY MONTGOMERY COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Montgomery County officials prepare to open a third COVID-19vaccination clinic, scheduled to open on Friday at the Parkside Shopping Center, in the former Petco location, in Willow Grove. Appointments are required for vaccinations.

PHOTO COURTESY MONTGOMERY COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Montgomery County Commissioner Dr. Valerie Arkoosh at a county vaccination site.