An Effort man has been charged with endangering the welfare of children after he was found in an upstairs room with a loaded shotgun and his son.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by the Pennsylvania State Police - Fern Ridge barracks in the case against Edward Mathews:

At 12:02 a.m. Monday troopers were dispatched to a report of an active domestic in the 200 block of Orchard View Drive, Chestnuthill Township.

Dispatch told police that the man was in an upstairs room with a loaded shotgun, and his son, and said he wished for “suicide by cop.”

Troopers located Mathews, 40, who was intoxicated, but otherwise compliant.

Mathews’ son was there, uninjured, with a loaded shotgun standing between a night stand and the bed. A bag of shot shells was at the foot of the bed.

The shotgun, with a barrel length of about 16 inches, had a shell in the chamber, four shells in the magazine tube and one shell in the stock.

A barrel section about 11 inches in length was found in the armoir, matching the shotgun.

Several single serve “Fireball” bottles were found in the trash can in the bedroom.

A woman said the dog began to annoy Mathews, and he began to lose his temper and began to call her nasty names and sent her texts about wanting her to get a job.

She said that Mathews threatened her, saying, “If I wanted to I could completely murder you and cut you down to a 2-foot-tall piece of garbage.”

He also texted, “You wanna see some cops come kill me?”

Police were told Mathews had been angry all day and had been arguing with everyone in the house due to his level of intoxication.

The man said that Mathews was chasing the dog earlier because he hated the dog, and that when anyone told him to leave the dog alone, he would begin to shout at them.

Mathews faces charges on two counts each of simple assault and harassment, and one count each of make repairs/sell/etc. of offensive weapons; endangering welfare of children; terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another; and recklessly endangering another person.

He is currently incarcerated in the Monroe County Correctional Facility in lieu of $50,000 monetary bail, and scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Feb. 25 before District Judge Daniel Kresge of Bartonsville.