Three or four dead (conflicting reports) and two critically injured after a gunman opened fire at a town hall meeting in northeastern Pennsylvania. Reports say the gunman shot through the wall then went inside and opened fire.
[Update] A fourth person, a woman, was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital near Allentown. Police initially said she had died, but then said later that she was still in surgery. [End Update]
According to reports the shooter had a pistol with a scope, emptied it and went to his car for another weapon. West End Open Space Commission Executive Director Bernie Kozen tackled the suspect causing his weapon to go off and shoot the gunman in the leg.
Two died at the scene and two were pronounced dead after being transported to the hospital, The Raw Story reports.
The shooter has been identified as 59 year-old Rockne Warren Newell, who had recently had his property seized after an 18-year-long dispute with the Ross Township Board of Supervisors over the condition of his property.
Since Newell's property had been seized, he had been living in abandoned buildings and his vehicle. In June he told the Pocono Record "They have no right to kick me off my property. They call my property an ‘eyesore.’ When I bought it, it was one of only three properties on the entire road that didn’t have what they call ‘junk."
The news clip below reports three dead.
(Changes made to this article as information became available)
