Crime & Safety

3 Shot Dead at Municipal Building in Western PA

Three people died Monday when a gunman opened fire at a municipal meeting in Ross Township near Saylorsburg in the southern Poconos.

by Susan Koomar

A disgruntled resident is the suspect in a mass shooting that left three people dead at a meeting at the Ross Township municipal building near Saylorsburg, Allegheny County on Monday night, according to multiple reports.

Dave Fleetwood, a supervisor from neighboring Chestnuthill Township, and two residents were killed, according to the Pocono Record.
Self-described junk collector Rockne Newell, 59, has been fighting with township officials for years over his property, where human feces were found in buckets in 2009, according to the Pocono Record.

The gunman began shooting into the meeting room at 7:15 p.m. while 15-18 people were inside, WFMZ reports.

Pocono Record Reporter Chris Reber described hearing 10 shots and seeing plaster fly off the walls.

Some people hid behind a table. Reber was able to crawl out a side door and hide behind an SUV, where he watched as Newell went out to a car to get a second gun.

A township official and a resident tackled Newell when he came back into the building. Newell was arraigned Tuesday morning and is in jail.

Two people died at the scene; a third died after being flown to St. Luke's Hospital in Fountain Hill, according to the Express Times.

 


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