An affidavit of probable cause filed by State College police provides more details on the assault charges filed against Penn State men’s hockey forward Gavin McKenna following an alleged altercation that left another man with injuries requiring surgery.
McKenna, an 18-year-old freshman from Yukon, Canada, was charged late Wednesday afternoon with a felony count of aggravated assault, a misdemeanor count of simple assault and summary offenses of disorderly conduct and harassment. He was arraigned Wednesday night by District Judge Casey McClain and released on $20,000 unsecured bail.
A borough officer was dispatched to Mount Nittany Medical Center on Saturday night to speak with a patient being treated for injuries from an assault that occurred in downtown State College, police wrote in the affidacit. The patient, who police identified in a statement as a 21-year-old male, had a fractured jaw and a missing tooth, as well as a swollen face and dried blood on his lips.
The man “could hardly speak,” and later had surgery that will require his jaw to be wired shut for two weeks, according to the affidavit.
Friends of the man who witnessed the incident told police that at about 8:45 p.m. on the 100 block of South Pugh Street McKenna punched the man twice in the face “following an exchange of words between them and the group of people that McKenna was with,” according to the affidavit. The complaint does not elaborate on the words that were exchanged.
No attorney for McKenna is listed in court documents. A Penn State Athletic Department spokesperson declined to comment on an ongoing legal matter.
The friends said they recognized McKenna because he is a hockey player and they believed he and his group came from Doggie’s Pub, 108 S. Pugh St., which hosted an event for the Penn State men’s hockey team and their friends and families after the Nittany Lions’ outdoor game against Michigan State earlier in the day at Beaver Stadium. They also told police they remembered seeing blood on the sidewalk after the altercation, which an officer wrote he later found.
Police reviewed street camera footage and observed McKenna punching the man twice in the face, causing him to stumble backwards, next to the entrance lanes of the Pugh Street parking garage, according to the affidavit. Video footage from Doggie’s and other street cameras showed McKenna leaving the pub just before the altercation, then walking on East Beaver Avenue to South Garner Street afterwards.
McKenna’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 11.
The highest-rated recruit in Penn State hockey history, McKenna has widely been viewed as one of the top prospects for this year’s NHL Draft. He had a goal and two assists in Saturday’s loss to Michigan State and is 10th in the nation in points per game. Prior to his arrival at Penn State, he spent parts of the past three seasons with the the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League, where in 2025 he became the third-youngest player named Canadian Hockey League, behind Sidney Crosby and John Tavares.
He is expected to play only one season at Penn State. The Nittany Lions’ next game is on Feb. 13 at Michigan.
StateCollege.com editor Geoff Rushton contributed to this report.
