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Schuylkill County Community Shocked by Shooting Outside White House

BUTLER TOWNSHIP — Jesse Olivieri of Butler Township, near Ashland, remains in critical condition at a hospital in Washington D.C. Officials say Olivieri w...
wh shooting

BUTLER TOWNSHIP -- Jesse Olivieri of Butler Township, near Ashland, remains in critical condition at a hospital in Washington D.C.

Officials say Olivieri was shot in the abdomen by Secret Service Friday after he refused to drop his weapon near the White House. Now his family friends and neighbors are struggling to understand what happened.

Neighbors along Malones Road near Ashland say when they saw the flashing lights, they thought maybe someone hit a deer. They are still trying to come to grips with the news: police were actually investigating a shooting at the White House.

News that the man shot by the Secret Service is from Schuylkill County came as a shock to his friend John Yagielniskie of Girardville.

“I knew him my whole life. He was one of my best friends. We went to football games together. That is messed up,” he said.

Yagielniskie says Olivieri graduated from North Schuylkill High School in 2003 but continued to loyally attend his alma maters football games.

“Football season starts, I see him. We go to the games. We always go to the games.”

Friday night in the hours after the shooting, police blocked off Malones Road near Ashland where Olivieri lived, but while the area has now quieted down, people we met are still struggling to understand why their neighbor traveled to the nation’s capital with a gun. Agents say they shot Olivieri after he approached a checkpoint and refused to drop his weapon.

“I have no idea what to make of it, to be honest with you. I have no idea. Something in your wildest dreams you wouldn't think of anything like that,” said George Tokarczyk of Butler Township.

Neighbors say it is hard to comprehend the situation because the family who lived here appeared perfectly normal.

“I would see Jesse on the porch or on his lawn tractor, but nothing, nothing out of the ordinary,” said Ruth Snyder of Butler Township.

Ruth and Randy Snyder recall that the Olivieri family would occasionally visit the drive-in restaurant the couple owns a few miles away.

“I graduated with the father, nice, nice man. Kids would cut the grass. Never, never had any idea something would happen like this,” Randy Snyder added.

Another high school friend said Olivieri “was a great person who had some mental issues” and he wishes his friend had been able to get help before this happened.

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