2 dead after apparent murder-suicide at Penn State Beaver

MONACA, Pa. — A woman who worked at a Penn State satellite campus apparently was shot dead by her estranged husband in a university parking lot on Wednesday, and the man then killed himself, police said.

Multiple shots were fired just before 4 p.m. near a Penn State Beaver dining hall, where the woman worked, state police Lt. Eric Hermick told WTAE-TV . An officer heard the shots and lots of screaming and responded to the scene, where he found the woman and her estranged husband dead beside her car, he said.

Hermick said the husband apparently had lured the woman to the parking lot.

“There was a ruse set up to get her outside of her workplace,” Hermick told the news station.

Penn State Beaver, about 35 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, issued a 3:56 p.m. alert that shots were fired but said the situation was contained.

There was never a threat to the general campus population, Hermick said.

“I know there’s often panic about college campuses and talk about active shooters, but that’s not the situation,” he said. “It appears to be some type of domestic violence issue here.”

About 650 students attend the school, but not many were on campus because it’s finals week, Penn State Beaver spokeswoman April Johnston-Smith said. The campus has been closed for the day, she said.