EATON TOWNSHIP -- Friends and coworkers showed up near the supermarket just off Route 29 hours after the shooting, trying to make sense of such a tragic and senseless act.
Randy Stair, 24, of Dallas, shot and killed three co-workers inside the Weis Markets near Tunkhannock before taking his own life, early Thursday, according to state police.
"I'm thinking this place is safe up here. We're in the middle of the country, it's a wonderful town," said Weis employee Rick Mehall. "People were calling me on my way to work, they were asking me what's going on. I had no clue."
Donna Robinson works nearby and said, "nothing like that happens around here, ever. It's very quiet in Tunkhannock."
She added," I go there every Sunday morning to buy my groceries. And we run over there for lunch all the time to pick things up. We're there all the time."
Weis Markets released a statement:
"We are deeply saddened by the events of this morning. The safety of our associates, our customers, and the surrounding community is our top priority."
A few Weis employees describe the tragic event as a workplace shooting only seen in big cities but now it's in their backyard.
"That's even scarier because now it's even people I know. I always see it on the news and I think, 'poor people,' and now I have to go through it," said Mehall.
"This is the saddest thing I could ever imagine," said Tracy Klepacz of Tunkhannock. Klepacz knew one of the victims, Brian Hayes of Springville.
"I don't think that we will ever get over this," she added. "We are going to be grieving for a long time. This community is so tight knit that it's going to take a long time to gather their thoughts and try to comprehend what happened."
With nearly 60 shots fired inside the store, Weis Markets officials do not know when the supermarket will reopen. Representatives with the Department of Agriculture are expected to inspect the store to see what can be salvaged and what cannot.
