The woman who was shot in the AMC Walnut Street theater earlier this month, testified in a preliminary hearing Friday that her ex-boyfriend was her attacker. Wanda McNealy, 19, testified from her bed in Thomas Jefferson Hospital that Nathaniel Page, 18, shot her while the two were viewing The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. She said Page then told her not to say anything to police while he attempted to drag her out of the theater. Assistant District Attorney Charles Ehrlich, who was assigned to the case, said an arraignment for Page is scheduled for March 13. Ehrlich also serves as the Assistant Chief for the Special Assaults Unit of the office of the District Attorney. Page is being charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, possession of an instrument of crime and violations of the Uniform Firearms Act. Although preliminary hearings are normally held in courtrooms, the extenuating circumstances in this case warranted a hearing in McNealy's hospital room. "[Holding a hearing in a hospital room] is not irregular if the victim can't come to court because the victim is confined to a hospital for medical reasons," Ehrlich said yesterday. Page shot McNealy in the chest, but the bullet continued through her body and severed her spinal cord. McNealy is now paralyzed from the waist down.
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