Pennsylvania grocery store employee kills 3 coworkers, then himself, police say
Stair left behind a massive online presence that paints a portrait of a deeply troubled young man, a loner who idolized the teenage gunmen responsible for the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado and who found escape through the YouTube videos he created under the Andrew Blaze name.
By EMILY SHAPIRO Jun 8, 2017, 12:41 PM ET
A grocery store employee in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, shot and killed three of his co-workers early this morning before killing himself, the Pennsylvania State Police said.
The gunman, 24-year-old Randy Robert Stair of Dallas, Pa., had been working inside a Weis Market near Scranton since 11 p.m. Wednesday. At about 12:50 a.m. today, he pulled two shotguns from a duffel bag and fatally shot three co-workers, police said.
Stair "continued firing shots throughout the store," police said, before fatally shooting himself in the head.
The store was closed to the public at the time of the shooting. One witness escaped the store and called 911, police said, adding that no one else was found inside.
The police said they "believe this is a contained incident," adding that "the public is not in any danger."
The victims were identified as 63-year-old Terry Lee Sterling, 26-year-old Victoria Todd Brong and 47-year-old Brian Hayes, police said.
The grocery store chain offered condolences to the families.
"We are deeply saddened at this tragic loss of life," a spokesman for Weis Markets told ABC News. "Right now our thoughts and prayers are with the families.”
This incident comes three days after a "disgruntled" Florida man returned to a business he was fired from in April, shooting and killing five former coworkers, police said. The gunman in that case also shot and killed himself.
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Why? Randy Robert Stair Weis Market mass shooting: 4 dead including shooter
By Christopher Koulouris
- June 8, 2017
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Randy Robert Stair Weis Market mass shootingRandy Robert Stair Weis Market mass shooting: 4 dead including shooter have died in a murder suicide in Eaton Township, Pennsylvania.
Randy Robert Stair a 24 year old Dallas, Pennsylvania man afflicted with a death wish has been identified as the suspect who killed three fellow co-workers at a Weis Market grocery store in Tunkhannock, Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, before then shooting himself dead in a murder suicide.
The multitude of deaths come after Robert Stair entered the Eaton Township store just on 1am, June 8 and began shooting at indiscriminately at workers.
Notice of the shooting rampage came after one person made it outside and was able to call 911 reported WNEP-TV.
A statement from Tunkhannock State Police told of the store being closed when the shooter entered the store.
Upon entering the store, a report via WGAL-TV told of Stair, a disenfranchised man who harbored thoughts of hurting others and ending his life shooting three individual before turning the gun on himself.
Killed were three males and one woman.
Noted a report via WILK newsradio: ‘A source tells WILK that Randy Robert Stair, 24, of Dallas, the shooter identified by Pennsylvania State Police at Tunkhannock, was participating in multi-player online gaming yesterday with an out of state man. Stair indicated he was upset that he had been moved to the night shift at his place of employment and to watch a local television news channel the next day.’
The gamer contacted Wilkes-Barre Police.
State Police identified the victims of the early morning shooting at the Weis Supermarket as Terry Lee Sterling, 63, of Shady Lane Park, South Montrose; Victoria Todd Brong, 26, of Avery Station Road, Factoryville and Brian Hayes, 47, of Springville.
The shooting as it turned out what was simply the culmination of what Stair had been long planning and preparing himself for ….
Noted the times tribune in the hours prior to the murder suicide: ‘Randy Robert Stair posted for the final time under his Andrew Blaze persona on Twitter on Wednesday at 9:11 p.m.’
“Goodbye humans…I’ll miss you….”
About 3½ hours later, Stair, 24, of Dallas, barricaded the doors of the Weis Market in Eaton Twp. and used a pair of pistol-grip shotguns to shoot and kill three of his coworkers before taking his own life.
Stair left behind a massive online presence that paints a portrait of a deeply troubled young man, a loner who idolized the teenage gunmen responsible for the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado and who found escape through the YouTube videos he created under the Andrew Blaze name.
‘To answer an extremely important question, I’m not just ending my life; I will be ending the lives of others as well,’ Stair wrote in a note accompanying his final “Ember’s Ghost Squad” video that he posted late Wednesday.
‘Years and years struggling of what to do with my life….’
Randy Robert Stair Weis Market mass shooting
Randy Robert Stair aka Andrew Blaze on social mediaA regard of a cache of extensive online documents posted by Stair – who went by the online persona, Andrew Blaze – suggested having planned the killings over a number of months.
A report via mccall noted according to the National Institute of Justice, the main risk factors in murder-suicide cases are prior history of domestic violence, access to firearms, threats — particularly increased threats with increased specificity — and a prior history of poor mental health or substance abuse.
Welcome to a brave new fragmented America as mass shootings continue to become the daily lexicon of life….
Randy Robert Stair Weis Market mass shooting
Randy Robert Stair aka Andrew Blaze on social media
Randy Robert Stair Weis Market mass shooting