Three Dead, Two Injured in Shooting Near Penn State

A shooting on Thursday night less than two miles from Penn State University has left three dead and two others in critical condition.

Caution Tape
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Caution Tape

Three people are dead and two injured following a shooting near Penn State University on Thursday night. 

According to local news outlet ABC 27, the shooting occurred around 10:30 p.m. at P.J. Harrigan's Bar and Grill. The restaurant is located inside the Ramada Hotel & Conference Center, less than two miles away from Penn State's main campus.

The gunman has been identified by local authorities as 21-year old Jordan Witmer. He allegedly opened fire on a woman believed to be his girlfriend or ex-girlfriend. He also shot and killed 62-year old Dean Beachy, and wounded another man who is now in critical condition before fleeing the restaurant. Witmer then crashed his car and broke into a local home. He killed a man inside, 83-year old George McCormick, before shooting and killing himself as well. 

"It's Happy Valley and we like to think these things can't happen here but one of the things it makes you realize is it can happen here and it did happen here," said State College Police Chief John Gardner. "I guess it's just a sign of the times of the world we live in."

Many Penn State students initially expressed concerns that they did not receive any campus alerts regarding the situation.

Love how I can always count on my school to not send us a goddamn university wide alert after a shooting happened only a few minutes away from campus. It’s been an hour, where is the alert????@penn_state ????!!!!!#AdventuresOfAPennStateStudent

— Dionysos (@DionysusLampter) January 25, 2019

there was a mass shooting on campus and Penn State didn’t issue one alert, that’s unacceptable.

— Kenseí⚡️ (@kenseicito) January 25, 2019

The safety of our students is a top priority at Penn State. Our thoughts are with those in the State College community impacted by this tragedy. @StateCollegePD responded to the shooting in the borough last night as it was not on Penn State’s campus.

— Penn State (@penn_state) January 25, 2019

Penn State University's official Twitter account has since addressed the tragic incident. 

The alert system includes incidents that are within Clery-reportable locations (https://t.co/nuP0cDfrQl). Nevertheless, we understand our community concerns and the University will continue to review processes.

— Penn State (@penn_state) January 25, 2019

There is no further information regarding this tragedy at this time. 

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