In the early hours on the morning of June 8, 2017, employees at aWeis Marketssupermarket inEaton Township, Pennsylvania,United States, were stocking and closing the store for the night. Shortly before 1:00 a.m., 24-year-old Randy Stair barricaded the exits of the store and proceeded to shoot and kill three of his co-workers before fatally shooting himself.[1]
| Eaton Township Weis Markets shooting | |
|---|---|
   Location within PA / United States | |
| Location | Eaton Township, Pennsylvania,U.S. |
| Coordinates | 41°31′45″N75°56′51″W/ 41.5291°N 75.9474°W |
| Date | June 8, 2017 12:57 a.m. – 1:01 a.m. (EDT) |
| Target | Employees atWeis Markets |
Attack type | Murder-suicide,triple-murder,workplace shooting,mass shooting |
| Weapons | Twopistol gripped12-gaugeMossberg 500pump-actionshotguns |
| Deaths | 4 (including the perpetrator) |
| Injured | 0 |
| Perpetrator | Randy Robert Stair |
| Motive | Belief that he would be reborn as a character fromDanny Phantom |
Perpetrator
editRandy Stair, who called himself Andrew Blaze, was the sole perpetrator of the killings. Stair had been employed atWeis Marketsfor 7 years.
Prior to carrying out his rampage, he kept detailed video recordings and journals leading up to the shooting, most of which he uploaded to online forums andsocial mediaprofiles. In these writings and videos, he expressed his willingness to commitsuicide,addressed the personal tragedies and other misfortunes he experienced which led him to a state of depression, a fear of aging past his 20s, describedcross-dressingand questioning hisgender identity,provided detailed explanations of his plans for carrying out the shooting, and explained his belief that these murders would allow him to cross over to an animated world he had imagined. Stair also had a fascination with multiplemass shootings,especiallyschool shootings(particularly theColumbine High School massacreandEric Harris and Dylan Klebold,its perpetrators). In his writings, Stair called the Columbine shooters his heroes, wishing he could have met them, and said Harris was his idol out of the two boys.[2][3][4]
From 2007, Stair had a presence onYouTubewith his channel PioneersProductions, which featured short sketches and collaborations he had done with other content creators.[5]By 2014, however, he announced that he was going in a different direction with his content, citing numerous unfortunate events that had occurred in his life during the previous year. He created his own video series titledEmber's Ghost Squad(EGS), based on the fictional characterEmber McLainfrom theNickelodeonanimated seriesDanny Phantom.Obsessed with the character, Stair had written earlier in his online journal that she wanted him to kill.[6]
On the evening of June 7, 2017, Stair uploaded a final video titled "The Westborough High Massacre" hours before perpetrating the shooting. In it, he described his hatred towards the people involved with the series through an angry prologue. It then featured a crudely animated sequence depicting him and one of the characters fromEGSmurdering students at a fictional high school, before ending with montages of previous videos explaining the motives behind the shooting.[7]He also managed nineTwitteraccounts based on his characters, where he left links to journals and videos he uploaded onMediaFire.[8]He was living in nearbyDallas, Pennsylvania,with his parents and had lived inPennsylvaniaall of his life.[9]
Shooting
editStair arrived for his late-night shift atWeis MarketsinEaton Township, Pennsylvania(just south ofTunkhannock), on the evening of June 7, 2017, during closing time at approximately 11:00 p.m. Stair went to the staff area of the store and blocked anemergency exitin the far back. He then continued with his duties, stocking shelves and cleaning up from the previous day. At 12:10 a.m., he sent out links to multiple files and videos which detailed his plans via hisTwitteraccount; these files were labeled "Journal," "Suicide Tapes," and "Digital set".[10][11][5]
Stair then went back to the crew area in the rear of the store, blocked the remaining exits, then locked theautomatic doorsat the main entrance to the store. He then pulled out twopistol grippump-action shotgunsthat he had concealed in aduffel bag[12]and walked around the store and killed three employees—Victoria Brong, Brian Hayes, and Terry Lee Sterling. He then approached another coworker, Kristan Newell, who had not heard the shooting due to her listening to music with headphones on while she was labeling items and stocking shelves near the rear of the store.[13]Stair was seen onCCTVsurveillance camera footage standing behind Newell as she worked for about five seconds before he proceeded to the next aisle.[14]
After this, Stair proceeded to fire at a glass and other merchandise in the store and shot multiple small portablepropane tanks,which failed to explode. Around this time, Newell was able to escape the store by removing the display at the entry doors and breaking the glass door. She then ran outside and hid behind some bushes and called 911.[citation needed]
After a short time, Stair concluded his shooting of the store's contents. Stair then went to the deli section of the store, and shot another group of items. Whilst Newell was on the phone to the police, Stair placed the loaded shotgun in his mouth and fired a single round through hispalate,killing himself instantly. A total of 59 shots had been fired. All of theshotgun roundsfired came from only one of the two shotguns he brought. Stair stated in his fifth "Suicide Tape" that the second shotgun was only for backup in case the first one "breaks down on [him] or jams, and [he has] no way of fixing it".[citation needed]
Victims
edit- Victoria Brong, aged 25, assistant tag manager.[15]
- Brian Hayes, aged 47, night manager andUnited States Navyveteran.[16]
- Terry Lee Sterling, aged 63, shop assistant.
Aftermath and reactions
editThe shooting did not receive much attention outside of local news outlets, but multiple Pennsylvania public leaders expressed their sadness and condemned the shooter's actions. Nevertheless, in reaction to the shooting, the Weis Markets store closed until July 13.[17]AWeis Marketsspokesperson said, "We are deeply saddened by the events of this morning. The safety of our associates, our customers, and the surrounding community is our top priority."[18]
Becki Hayes, the sister-in-law of victim Brian Hayes, set up aGoFundMecampaign to pay for immediate expenses. Hayes was also featured onNancy Grace's podcastCrime Stories with Nancy Grace.[19]
Store reopening and response
editOn June 14, 2017, Weis Markets announced the store would be reopened.[20]The original storefront stayed intact, but the interior was gutted and remodeled with a new floor layout. On July 13, 2017, the store was reopened.[21]
Many people who lived in the area questioned why Weis decided not to relocate the store. In an interview withWNEP,some said they would not even enter the remodeled store due to what occurred there. However, others in the community accepted the supermarket chain's decision. One man said that it would have played into Stair's hands had the store left. He explained, "The evil man who did this would have wanted them to move and would have wanted people to be scared and not want to go to the store after what he did."[22]
See also
edit
Similar shootings
editRelated lists and articles
editReferences
edit- ^"Victims, Shooter Identified in Weis Markets Murder-Suicide".WNEP.com.2017-06-08.Retrieved2017-06-21.
- ^"Supermarket Killer Posted Video Describing Plan".US News.Retrieved21 June2017.
- ^Innis, Jamie."Weis Markets shooter leaves behind videos of plans".WOLF.Retrieved2017-06-21.
- ^Tanos, Lorenzo."The Bizarre Reasons This Youtuber Went on a Deadly Rampage".Grunge.Retrieved2022-08-03.
- ^abMcBride, Jessica (June 8, 2017)."Randy Stair: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know".Heavy.com.RetrievedJune 22,2017.
- ^Tanos, Lorenzo (2021-10-19)."The Bizarre Reasons This YouTuber Went On A Deadly Rampage".Grunge.Retrieved2023-08-08.
- ^Scolforo, Mark; De Groot, Kristen (June 8, 2017)."Supermarket massacre shooter left chilling online trail".Associated Press. Archived fromthe originalon 2017-06-18.RetrievedJune 21,2017.
- ^Singleton, David (June 10, 2017)."Gunman's web posts suggest disconnect with the real world".RetrievedJune 22,2017.
- ^Becker, Dave (2017-06-09)."Four dead in Weis Market shooting".PAHOMEPAGE.Retrieved2017-06-21.
- ^Herbert, Geoff (June 8, 2017)."Weis Market shooting: 4 dead in murder-suicide at Pennsylvania supermarket".syracuse.com.RetrievedJune 21,2017.
- ^Oberhaus, Daniel; Maiberg, Emanuel (June 12, 2017)."Why Isn't Twitter Deleting the Weis Market Shooter's 'Suicide Tapes'?".Motherboard.RetrievedJune 22,2017.
- ^"4 dead in murder-suicide at Pennsylvania supermarket".8 June 2017.
- ^Kohut, Joseph (June 10, 2017)."Witness describes supermarket shooting in Wyoming County".The Times-Tribune.RetrievedJune 21,2017.
- ^Brennan, Christopher; Jagannathan, Meera (June 8, 2017)."Worker who posted violent online cartoons kills three, self".Daily News.New York City:Tribune Publishing.RetrievedJune 21,2017.
- ^"Four dead in shooting in Pennsylvania supermarket".CBS News.Associated Press.June 8, 2017.RetrievedJune 21,2017.
- ^Berkeley, Tapinto (June 12, 2017)."A GoFundMe Campaign is Accepting Donations for Family of Brian Hayes, Killed in the Grocery Store Massacre".TAPinto.RetrievedJuly 21,2017.
- ^Marshall, C.J. (June 28, 2017)."County: Weis expected to re-open July 13".RetrievedJune 29,2017.
- ^"Weis Markets issues statement about shooting |".wkok.com.8 June 2017.Retrieved2017-06-21.
- ^Duke, Alan (June 15, 2017)."Weis Supermarket massacre victim's family needs your help! Desert Storm vet's death robs family of father, husband".Crime Online.RetrievedJune 29,2017.
- ^"Weis Markets set to reopen after deadly shooting".WNEP.com.6 June 2017.Retrieved30 June2017.
- ^"Mixed feelings on supermarket reopening after mass shooting".Associated Press. July 9, 2017. Archived fromthe originalon 2017-07-12.RetrievedJuly 21,2017.
- ^"Community reacts to Weis reopening after shooting".WNEP.com.28 June 2017.Retrieved30 June2017.