Three dead in a fight over snow: Man, 47, shoots feuding neighbors with handgun and rifle for shoveling snow into his yard – before turning gun on himself
A feuding neighbour shot a couple with a handgun before fetching an AR-15-style rifle from his home to kill them, after an apparent argument over the couple shoveling snow into his yard.
Disturbing video has emerged showing the Pennsylvania couple yelling obscenities at the neighbour, before the man grabs a gun and fatally shoots the husband and wife in the middle of the street.
The gunman, Jeffrey Spaide, 47, then took his own life as cops closed in.
The violent incident took place at the height of Monday’s Nor’easter storm in Plains Township in the suburbs of Scranton, claiming the lives of James Goy, 50, and his wife, 48-year-old Lisa Goy.
Prosecutors in Pennsylvania have officially ruled the deadly triple shooting a murder-suicide.
The argument appears to have been sparked after the victims dumped snow into their neighbour’s yard while clearing their cars.
Spaide asked the pair to stop, which prompted James Goy to throw aside the tool he was using to clean his car, walk up to his neighbour in the street and make a fist at him.
Surveillance video from the scene shows the Goys yelling at Spaide and calling him a ‘mother******’ and a ‘p****.’
Spaide goes back into his house as the Goys continue cursing at the neighbour. In the video, James is heard yelling at the neighbor ‘I’ll knock your a** out’ and ‘I’ll make your life a living hell.’
Moments later, Spaide emerges from his residence holding a pistol, but the Goys carry on with the verbal abuse and seemingly challenge him to shoot, with Lisa yelling, ‘Go ahead! Go ahead!’
James and Lisa initially do not react and remain standing as Spaide opens fire on them. He fires multiple rounds from close range, striking both victims and causing them to collapse to the snow-covered ground.
The gunman then goes back into his house to get an AR-15-style rifle, which he uses to shoot his neighbours again, killing both in the middle of the street.
‘You should have kept your mouth shot,’ he tells Lisa as he pulls the trigger.
Prosecutors said Spaide then retreated into his home, paced back and forth in front of a window, then shot himself dead as the first police units responded to the scene on West Bergh Street at 9am on Monday.
On Tuesday, Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis said she has reviewed the case and will direct the investigation to be closed, reported Citizens Voice.
According to prosecutors, witness accounts and surveillance video showed that the Goys and Spaide, who had a history of disputes, clashed while removing snow from their respective properties directly across the street from one another.
As the Goys were clearing their cars, they pushed the snow across the street and dumped it onto Spaide’s property, according to prosecutors.
Police said a total of 15 to 20 shots were fired during the confrontation.
The Goys had a 15-year-old son with autism who is now staying with his grandparents.