The gunman suspected of killing four people at a Pennsylvania car wash was heavily armed and possibly inspired by jealousy, according to state police and news reports.
Timothy Smith, 28, was armed with a semiautomatic rifle, a .308-caliber rifle and a handgun and was wearing body armor when he allegedly opened fire early Sunday at Ed’s Car Wash, police said.
William Porterfield, 27; Chelsie Cline, 25; Courtney Snider, 23; and Seth Cline, 21, were killed in the 3 a.m. attack in Saltlick Township, which is 55 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
Smith, the suspected gunman, was also shot in the head, possibly a self-inflicted wound, police said. He was hospitalized on life support Sunday and is not expected to survive, police said.
Another woman hid in the back of a truck when the shooting erupted and suffered minor injuries from broken glass, police said.
Authorities haven’t revealed how Smith knew the victims.
But Chelsie Cline’s half-sister, Sierra Kolarik, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that Smith developed an obsession with Cline after the two possibly dated.
Porterfield’s widow, Jenna Porterfield, 24, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Chelsie Cline recently broke off a relationship with Smith.
Cline shared a meme on her Facebook page last week that read, “After this week, I rlly (sic) need to get taken out … on a date or by a sniper either one is fine w me at this point.”
A Facebook friend named Tim Smith replied, “I could do both.”
Ed Bukovac, who owns the car wash, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that a neighbor called him around 4 a.m. Sunday and said something was wrong at his business. Police were already on the scene when he arrived.
A man who lives nearby told the newspaper that he heard about 30 gunshots over a span of several minutes.
———
© 2018 USA Today
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
