A Palmerton man has been charged with attempted homicide after police said he tried to shoot the ex-husband of a woman he was dating.

State police at Lehighton said troopers were dispatched at 10:45 p.m. for a 911 call reporting shots being fired near the Rausch Haus Bar, located at 950 Delaware Ave., in Lower Towamensing Township.

Troopers, along with Palmerton police, located Leonid Opacic, 40, on scene. He had been armed with a 9 mm Taurus handgun. Two spent 9 mm shell casings were also located on the ground outside the business.

The Criminal Investigation Unit of the Lehighton barracks was requested to respond to the scene. Interviews were conducted and surveillance video was obtained.

Troopers learned that Opacic and the victim had been engaged in altercations over the last few days related to Opacic dating the victim’s ex-wife. One incident happened earlier in the week at the Beer Zone in Palmerton. On Friday night, they were asked to leave the Rausch Haus Bar, police said.

All three had been removed from the bar Saturday night after a scuffle when Opacic retrieved a gun from his vehicle, attempting to shoot the victim. The woman involved told police they had been at a shooting range earlier in the day, which is why Opacic had the gun.

Two shots were fired. Bystanders, including an off-duty police officer, intervened, preventing the victim from being hit by gunfire.

He told police he did not intend to shoot at the victim and that he accidentally fired the gun.

Opacic was taken into custody and charged with criminal attempted homicide, and two counts of aggravated assault - attempts to cause serious bodily harm or causes injury with extreme indifference, a felony 1, and aggravated assault - attempts to cause or causes bodily harm with deadly weapon, a felony 2; also, two counts of simple assault, three counts of recklessly endangering another person and one count of terroristic threats. He was arraigned before on-call District Judge William Kissner of Palmerton who set bail at $150,000, 10 percent. Opacic was unable to post bail and was committed to the county prison in Nesquehoning.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10:40 a.m. on Aug. 17 before Kissner.

Trooper Ryan English, PSP Lehighton Criminal Investigation unit, is conducting the investigation.