Two people are dead and another is in critical condition following an early-morning shooting Thursday inside a Shenandoah row home.
According to Pennsylvania State Police Troop L Public Information Officer Ethan Brownback, police were dispatched to 307 West Centre Street around 1 a.m. after a woman contacted the Shenandoah Police Department reporting she had received a text message stating, “Everyone’s dead.” The caller told police she believed everyone inside the residence had been killed.
Officers from multiple Schuylkill County departments, including Shenandoah, Frackville, Mahanoy Township, and West Mahanoy Township police, responded to the scene.
Upon arriving, police made forcible entry into the home, where they encountered a young juvenile male. The child reportedly told officers, “I need help. Daddy just shot mom and granddad.”
Inside the residence, police found an older deceased male on a couch on the first floor. As they began to clear the rest of the home, officers heard a gunshot from the second floor.
A search of the upper level revealed another deceased male just outside a bedroom and a female suffering from critical gunshot wounds. The woman was airlifted to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, where she is currently receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit.
According to Brownback, all three victims had sustained gunshot wounds.
State Police activated the Major Case Team around 1:35 a.m. Investigators from the Forensic Services Unit, the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Specialist (CARS) unit, and the Schuylkill County Coroner’s Office assisted at the scene.
Authorities have not yet released the names of the victims, pending notification of next of kin.
Brownback emphasized that this was an isolated incident and there is no ongoing threat to the public.
Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to contact the Pennsylvania State Police at Frackville by calling 570-874-5300.