Vigil planned Monday for victims of State College shootings
The victims of the State College shootings on Thursday night will be remembered through a vigil Monday evening from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Allen Street Gates.
One was a father, a well-regarded business owner and horse auctioneer. One was a son, a recent high school graduate known for his baseball skills. One was a husband, father and great-grandfather, active in his community and a survivor of polio.
What brought them together was a night of fatal coincidences, allegedly carried out by Jordan Witmer, 21, a 2015 graduate of Bellefonte Area High School who was living in Benner Township.
Dean Beachy, 62, of Millersburg, Ohio, died from a gunshot wound to the head after Witmer walked over to him at P.J. Harrigan’s Bar & Grill in the Ramada Inn on South Atherton Street on Thursday night, State College police said. Witmer quickly shot Beachy’s son, 19-year-old Steven, in the chest. Then, police say Witmer shot his ex-girlfriend, 21-year-old Nicole Abrino of State College, also in the chest.
State College police had no update Saturday on Abrino’s condition or any other details of the shootings.
After fleeing the bar by car, Witmer crashed near the intersection of Waupelani Drive and Whitehall Road, where he ran into a house at 748 Tussey Lane and shot homeowner George McCormick, 83, in the head, killing him, while George’s wife Joann hid in a bedroom closet and called 911. Shortly after, he turned the gun on himself.
Steven Beachy died Friday afternoon from his injuries, after being transferred from Mount Nittany Medical Center to the trauma center at UPMC Altoona.
Dean Beachy owned and operated Beachy Auction Service in Berlin, Ohio, according to Wooster, Ohio, paper the Daily Record. Friends and colleagues said he was well-known and well-respected in the horse world, said the paper. He leaves behind a wife, Linda, and three sons.
The younger Beachy was a passionate baseball player and threw himself into everything he did, those who knew him told the Record. They didn’t know what he was going to do in life, but they said they knew he would do it well. He was in State College with his father for a standard-bred horse auction at Penns Valley Livestock in Centre Hall on Friday, according to a list obtained by the Record.
McCormick was a retired foods supervisor and vending manager at Penn State. In his retirement, he owned and operated a lawn care business, according to his obituary. An active member of the community, he participated in many Knights of Columbus dinners and garage sales and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Penn State.
Though polio left him handicapped — with only one good hand — his family said he was always the first to help in any situation. He died on his 60th wedding anniversary.
A local group called Standing at the Gates for Justice, said on Facebook that its weekly vigil will be dedicated to the State College shooting. “Join us as we remember, mourn and imagine a better world moving forward,” the Facebook event says.
Ben Wideman, a Penn State pastor with 3rd Way Collective who is involved with the Standing at the Gates movement, told the Daily Collegian an event like Thursday’s shootings merited significant focus in the weekly vigil.
“This particular incident feels far more intrusive and personal for our local community, so it seemed fitting to use that time on Monday for this reason,” he told the Collegian.
The Centre Region chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a national group that advocates for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence, and Nit-Ta-Nee NOW, a local chapter of the National Organization for Women, are also listed as participants in the vigil.
This story was originally published January 26, 2019 at 7:15 PM.
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