WB_VOICE/PAGES [A01] | 06/08/17
22:29 | DONLINKEVI
the citizens’
voice FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 2017
NIGHTMARE on the NIGHT SHIFT N
JAkE DANNA STEVENS / STAFF phOTOGRAphER
FRANKLIN TWP. MAN KILLS 3, SELF IN WYOMING COUNTY SHOOTING
24-YEAR-OLD GUNMAN LEFT MASSIVE ONLINE TRAIL BY JOSEPH KOHUT STAFF WRITER
E
ATON TWP. — After months of planning, a Franklin Twp. man barricaded the doors of a Wyoming County supermarket early Thursday and slaughtered three coworkers before turning his shotgun on himself. Randy Robert Stair, 24, fired 59 shots from two pistol-grip 12-gauge shotguns at Weis supermarket, 600 Hunter Highway in Eaton Twp. — a shocking outburst of violence that rattled a rural county of roughly 28,000 people to its core. The massacre lasted only minutes. “It is obvious this was pre-planned,” District Attorney Jeff Mitchell said.
The three people killed are Terry Lee Sterling, 63, of Bridgewater Twp.; Victoria Todd Brong, 26, of Factoryville; and Brian Hayes, 47, of Springville Twp. State police said five people, including Stair, were working inside the store during the overnight shift. Another worker, who authorities declined to identify, escaped unharmed and called 911. “The fact that three people can lose their lives by simply going to work underscores how senseless this tragedy is,” Mitchell said. Stair spotted the worker who escaped, Mitchell said. While she was in close proximity to him, Stair did not shoot her. “We don’t know the reason why,” Mitchell said.
STERLING
HAYES
MORE INSIDE
‘Many, many leads’
Family, friends of the victims left asking why. Page A4
Stair arrived at Weis for his overnight shift beginning at 11 p.m. on Wednesday. Within two hours, he blocked the five entrances of the building, some more heavily than others, state police said. Stair parked his car against an emergency exit, took off his red uniform shirt and grabbed his shotguns. Then he locked the main doors, which he had also blocked with a pallet loaded with full cardboard boxes. “It looks like he was trying to slow down anybody who might be trying to get in or out,” said state police Capt. Jonathan G. Nederostek, commander of Troop P.
Randy Robert Stair, also known as Andrew Blaze, left a long online trail leading up to Thursday’s shooting. Page A5
Then Stair opened fire. He also shot up counters and aisles and did extensive damage to the store. Mitchell said he shot at propane tanks in the store, presumably to ignite them. State police found two propane tanks in his car. Why he did it, though, remains an open question. “It’s an ongoing investigation. We‘re following up many, many leads,” Nederostek said. “We’re looking at everything from social media to witness interviews to neighborhood interviews. We’re looking at every angle we have.” The investigators have a lot to consider. Stair left behind a large amount of social media posts, documents and videos in which he made clear his intentions to commit murder and then take his own life. Moments before the shooting, Stair uploaded a vast trove of documents to Twitter, posting after, “Goodbye humans...I’ll miss you...” In a journal entry written by Stair on May 29 and posted online, he wrote he hopes this shooting inspires more shootings. He also outlined his plans on how to shoot his victims in chilling detail. He hoped to record the shooting, but doubted he would have time to and whether it would ever be played in public, he wrote. He also railed against the supermarket and said he hopes the store loses business after the shooting. Please see ATTACK, Page A4
FROM SOcIAL MEDIA
Randy Robert Stair posted several photos of himself online holding weapons.
Comey says he was fired over Russia probe In testimony, ex-FBI director accused White House of spreading lies.
ANALYSIS comey’s testimony takes aim at president Trump’s credibility. Page A13
BY ERIC TUCKER AND ERICA WERNER ASSOcIATED pRESS
WASHINGTON — Former FBI Director James Comey asserted Thursday that President Donald Trump fired him to interfere with his investigation of Russia’s ties to the Trump campaign, bluntly accusing the White House of spreading “lies, plain and simple.” Comey also revealed that he’d orchestrated the public release of information about his private conversations with the president in an effort to fur-
COMEY ther the investigation. Comey’s testimony, at a hugely anticipated congressional hearing that captured the country’s attention, provided a grippingaccountof hisinteractions with Trump and underscored the deep distrust that had soured their relationship
before his stunning firing last month. In occasionally explosive statements, Comey portrayed Trump as a chief executive dismissive of the FBI’s independence and made clear that he interpreted Trump’s request to end an investigation into his former national security adviser as an order coming from the president. Heexpressedconfidencethat the circumstances of his firing, and Trump’s overall behavior toward him, could be investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller for possible obstruc-
tion of justice. But he declined to offer an opinion on whether it met such a threshold. Trump’s private attorney, Marc Kasowitz, seized on Comey’s admission that he had told Trump on multiple occasions that he was not personally under investigation and maintained the testimony made clear that Trump “never, in form or substance, directed or suggested that Mr. Comey stop investigating anyone.” Kasowitz also jumped on Comey’s revelation that he had released details of his private conversations with the president, casting the former FBI director as one of the “leakers” set on undermining the Trump administration. Please see COMEY, Page A8
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