Zachary Gula, 35, a White male from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, was found fatally shot in the front yard of a home on the 400 block of East Marble Street on Sunday, July 13, 2025. First responders arrived around mid-afternoon and found him face-down in the grass, “obviously deceased,” according to police. The Cumberland County Coroner identified him and ruled his death a homicide caused by a gunshot wound to the chest.
An obituary later confirmed his age and residence, noting he died on July 13.
Investigators say they found another Mechanicsburg man, 35-year-old Richard Lee King Jr., sitting beside Gula’s body when officers arrived. King was taken into custody that day and charged with criminal homicide. In a probable-cause affidavit cited by local reporting, King told police he had shot Gula and said the handgun was inside the house. Police noted the two men knew each other.
Because King worked for the Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas, local prosecutors disclosed a conflict of interest; the case was referred to Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday’s office. Coverage in the days after the killing included accounts from a friend who said he was on the phone with Gula minutes before the shooting, underscoring the suddenness of the violence. As of those reports, King remained the sole named suspect, facing a criminal homicide charge in Gula’s death.
