3 killed near Penn State

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — A gunman opened fire at a hotel bar near Penn State University’s main campus, killing two men and wounding a woman, then broke into a stranger’s house and fatally shot the 83-yearold homeowner before killing himself, authorities said.

The initial shooting happened just after 10 p.m. Thursday at P.J. Harrigan’s Bar & Grill in State College, about 2 miles from Penn State’s campus.

State College Police Chief John Gardner said Friday afternoon they are still trying to determine why Jordan Witmer, 21, of Bellefonte, opened fire inside the bar, shooting two men he apparently didn’t know, and Nicole Abrino, with whom he had an unspecified connection.

Dean Beachy, 62, of Millersburg, Ohio, died at the scene, and Beachy’s 19-year-old son, Steven Beachy, died at a hospital Friday afternoon. Abrino was shot in the chest and remains at a Pittsburgh hospital. Gardner said he didn’t know her condition.

Witmer then fled the bar, crashed his vehicle and broke into a home by shooting out a sliding glass door, Gardner said. Inside, he fatally shot homeowner George Mccormick, 83, before turning the gun on himself. Mccormick’s distraught 80-year-old wife barricaded herself in a room and called 911.

There was no relationship between Witmer and Mccormick, and officials think he chose the home at random, Gardner said.

Information was still being gathered about the shooter, whom Gardner described as being in the military.

Family members told WNEP-TV that Dean Beachy was an auctioneer and that he and his son were in State College for a horse auction.