Pennsylvania Man Shot Ex-Wife 5 Times Over Child Support, Called Himself a 'Hero'

Darrell Long, 63, was convicted of attempted first-degree murder after shooting his ex-wife Dawn five times in her Lebanon County home. Sentencing is set for Dec. 9.

Lebanon County Man Convicted of Attempted Murder After Shooting Ex-Wife Five Times

Darrell Long, 63, of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, was found guilty on Tuesday, September 22, of attempted first-degree murder, burglary, aggravated assault, and misdemeanor harassment, after breaking into his ex-wife's home and shooting her five times. According to people.com, Long attacked Dawn while she was asleep on her living room couch — unarmed and alone.

"He finds her asleep on her living room couch alone, obviously no weapon, utterly defenseless," Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf told PEOPLE. "And it's not enough to shoot her. He wants her to know it was him."

The Attack

Police were called to the Lebanon County home on March 25, 2025, after Dawn managed to call 911 from her bedroom, where she had barricaded herself. Hess Graf says Long beat his ex-wife twice in the face with a .22 caliber long rifle before opening fire while she lay on the couch.

"He hits her in the left leg, one bullet goes directly through her knee, lodges, and the other one is more towards the femur area of her left thigh," Hess Graf said, adding that Dawn fought back despite her injuries.

Dawn reached for the gun as Long pointed it at her face. "He fires. Thankfully, he hits her hand and doesn't shoot her in the head, but it obliterates her left index finger," the district attorney said.

Dawn managed to grab Long and throw him across the room. During the struggle, the gun's magazine became dislodged. "She sees him on the ground in the middle of all this chaos ... He's beating and hitting at the gun, yelling at it, saying that it jammed," Hess Graf said. When Dawn charged him to seize the weapon, Long fired again — the fourth shot — striking her right forearm, where the bullet lodged.

"She testified she just had nothing physically left," Hess Graf said. "She's bleeding from three limbs. She knows he's going to kill her."

Dawn dragged herself across the floor to her bedroom. Before she reached it, Long shot her a fifth time, this time in the right leg. Once inside, she barricaded the door and used her Apple Watch to trigger an emergency 911 call.

Motive: Child Support Filing

Long fled the home before police arrived. Hess Graf says she believes several factors drove him out — the approaching police, and the imminent return of the couple's son, who is described as protective of his mother.

"He did everything he could to make sure his son would come home to a dead mother," Hess Graf said, noting that Long locked the door behind him to delay any rescue.

Hess Graf links the attack directly to Dawn filing for child support following the couple's 2023 divorce. "He gets the child support paperwork, and he loses his mind," she said. "It's silly to think that something like paying for your child to live would cause you to then try to physically assault and kill your ex-wife, but that was his ultimate trigger."

In the month before the shooting, Long sent his son text messages about Dawn on 23 separate occasions, which Hess Graf described as "nasty and hateful." Long used the messages to relay threats to Dawn, who had blocked him on her phone.

One text, sent 17 days before the attack, told his son that Long had "a clear line of sight into their home" and warned that if Dawn "didn't essentially shape up, his son would lose both parents."

No Remorse

Since the attack, Long has displayed what Hess Graf described as a complete absence of accountability. Among the final things the jury heard, she said, were Long making domestic violence jokes, claiming that "every woman needs to be taught a lesson," and declaring himself a hero.

"He did what 99% of men wish they could do," Hess Graf recounted. "He's proud of what he did. He still blames the victim for making him shoot her."

Dawn, according to the district attorney, is recovering but faces lasting physical consequences. "Her left hand will always be different. Her left leg will always be different. And she has pain," Hess Graf said. "She still has a bullet lodged in her femur."

Long is scheduled to be sentenced on December 9 and faces decades in prison.

--- If you are experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or visit thehotline.org. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

Source: Law & Crime