Melcroft Shooting: Gunman Kills 4 At Car Wash In Fayette County

MELCROFT, PA — A gunman reportedly armed with a semi-automatic rifle and a handgun killed two men and two women at a car wash in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, early Sunday, authorities said. Another woman suffered minor injuries when she hid in the back seat of a truck as gunfire erupted.

Multiple media outlets, citing law enforcement agencies, initially reported that three men and two women were killed when gunfire erupted in the early morning hours at Ed's Car Wash in Melcroft. Authorities later clarified one of the slain men was the gunman and that he wasn't dead. Rather, as WPXI-TV reported, he was on life support and not expected to survive.

The shooting happened around 3 a.m. along state Route 711 near Melcroft Road.

A motive for the mass slayings remains unclear, though the shooter was identified as Timothy O’Brien Smith, 28. Multiple media outlets said he was wearing body armor.

The victims were identified as William Porterfield, 27, Chelsie Cline, 25, Courtney Snyder, 23, and Seth Cline, 21.

This was the deadliest mass shooting of 2018.

The shooter in the Melcroft carwash shooting had an AR-15-style rifle and a 9mm handgun and was wearing body armor with the ballistic panels removed, officials just said at a press conference.
— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) January 28, 2018

Shooter was named as Timothy O’Brien Smith, 28. No more details from officials yet on his relationship with the victims or his prior record.
— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) January 28, 2018

Patch has reached out to Pennsylvania State Police for confirmation and will update when we hear back.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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