Fatal Nockamixon State Park Shooting: No New Leads, DA Says

DOYLESTOWN, PA — It's been nearly one week since 18-year-old Jason Kutt, of Sellersville, was struck by a bullet in the back of the head while watching the sunset with his girlfriend at Nockamixon State Park on Saturday in Quakertown.

One week, and authorities have yet to publicly identify any suspects or persons of interest in a case that has received national attention.

Kutt was sitting near the Old Ridge Road access to the state park that abuts the lake when he was shot from about 550 feet away, authorities said. In the distance, his girlfriend saw a man in the roadway wearing orange hunting gear look in their direction before walking away.

On Wednesday, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office released descriptions of three vehicles that were seen in the area of the park around the time of the shooting. Despite receiving numerous tips about the vehicles, detectives have not been able to identify the owners of any of them, the district attorney's office confirmed in an email to Patch Thursday afternoon.

District Attorney Matt Weintraub has said that hunting was allowed in the park on the day of the shooting, but it remains unclear if the man who shot Kutt did so accidentally or with intent.

"We don't even know if a crime has been committed yet, but we need to understand how Jason Kutt died and we need your help to do that," Weintraub said at a news conference Monday.

Nockamixon State Park encompasses more than 5,200 acres of fields and forests surrounding a 1,450 acre manmade lake. Combined with the adjacent state game lands, the park is the largest piece of land open to public hunting in the southeastern corner of Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Despite misconceptions about state parkland being off-limits to hunters, most of the 121 state parks in Pennsylvania allow hunting, a state parks official said.

"While details on the recent fatal shooting at Nockamixon State Park have yet to be determined, it should be noted such incidents are few and precautions taken are many at Pennsylvania State Parks permitting hunting," DCNR Press Secretary Terry Brady wrote in an email to Patch.

Brady recommends people who go to parks wear blaze orange-colored clothing during hunting season.

In a Facebook post, Kutt's family members said the teen was a recent graduate of Pennridge High School who loved playing guitar, video games and taking walks in nature.

You can watch Monday's press conference below: