Posted on January 5, 2017

Woman Accused of Making Death Threats to Pa. Lottery Because She Wasn’t Winning

Barbara Miller, Penn Live, January 4, 2017

A Philadelphia woman angry about not winning the Pennsylvania Lottery is accused of making death threats against workers at the state Lottery headquarters in Lower Swatara Township last year.

A warrant has been issued by Lower Swatara Township police for the arrest of Towanda A. Shields, 47.

Towanda Shields

Towanda Shields

“She plays lottery a lot and gets very upset by the fact she doesn’t win,” said Detective Robert Appleby of Lower Swatara Township police.

Shields is accused of making the threats between April and December 2016. The threats came via phone calls and voice mails, police said.

“It seems she was completely obsessed with the lottery,” Appleby said, and believed it was conspiring against her. “She was so relentless it was becoming a concern.”

Shields is accused of giving specific dates she was going to kill people and told lottery workers she Googled where they live, police said.

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