LOCK HAVEN -- It happened decades ago, but the story is still difficult for many people in Clinton County.
Monday marks 50 years since a man went on a shooting rampage in Lock Haven, killing six coworkers and wounding several others.
"We all want to forget it. It was a bad time, real bad."
Retired State Trooper John Keeler didn't know it at the time. It was early on in his 28-year career with the Pennsylvania State Police, but on October 23, 1967, he was dispatched to a tragedy he would never forget and many others would never come to understand.
"I went immediately to the entrance of the Hammermill Paper Company and witnessed my first victim. He had been shot in the back of the head," Keeler recalled.
For many people who live in Lock Haven and nearby Loganton, the memory of that day 50 years ago is one of loss.
The shooter, 39-year-old Leo Held, worked at the Hammermill Paper Company in Lock Haven.
"He was a very low-key, mild-mannered individual," said Keeler.
But that day, something changed.
"Leo Held went there specifically to commit mass murder," Keeler said.
Held killed six people that day at locations in Lock Haven and Loganton. The men were co-workers, bosses, and a neighbor. To so many others, they were fathers, husbands, and friends.
Seven others were hurt.
50 years later, the question still remains: why?
"His fellow workers made fun of him," Keeler said.
Keeler says possible explanations include a female co-worker who wouldn't carpool with Held because of his erratic driving. Another potential explanation is that his bosses passed him over for promotions.
"They expected him to take what they gave him and live his life," said Keeler.
Held was shot by police the same day of the rampage. He died at the hospital.
Keeler says there is another explanation for the shooting, but that remains confidential to police.
Many in Clinton County don't mind keeping it that way.