State College police have completed their investigation and released new details on the January shootings that left four people dead and critically injured another.
But why 21-year-old Benner Township resident Jordan Witmer started shooting on the night of Jan. 24 remains a mystery. Witmer fatally shot two people and wounded another at P.J. Harrigan’s Bar & Grill, 1450 S. Atherton St., before fleeing and breaking into a Tussey Lane home, where he killed a resident and himself.
There is no evidence of an argument or fight that precipitated the shootings, police and District Attorney Bernie Cantorna said. A toxicology screen found that Witmer had a blood alcohol content of .223, nearly three times the legal limit to drive.
“If you’re looking for reason, I don’t think we’re going to find it,” Cantorna said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon. “There is no good reason for any of this to have occurred. None of these individuals did anything to provoke any type of a response. It is simply senseless killings.”
Witmer and 21-year-old Nicole Abrino, the lone survivor of the shootings, first traveled together in Witmer’s car to HomeD on South Atherton Street for dinner and where Witmer began drinking. At about 8:30 p.m. they went to P.J. Harrigan’s, attached to the Ramada Hotel, for drinks.
Abrino told police she and Witmer were friends and were not in a relationship. Cantorna said Abrino was acting as designated driver and planned to drive Witmer home that night.
Shortly after 10 p.m., before they were about to leave the bar, Witmer went to use the downstairs bathroom. Abrino saw Witmer return through an outside door and as he passed the bar she “heard the bartender say something about a gun,” Cantorna said. The bartender confirmed to police that he saw Witmer with a gun and “made an exclamation,” according to Cantorna.
Abrino grabbed Witmer’s coat, approached him and said “Come on, let’s go.” That’s when Witmer shot Abrino at close range in the side of her chest with a 9mm handgun. Immediately after that, Witmer shot 61-year-old Dean Beachy in the head. He then shot Beachy’s 19-year-old son, Steven, before fleeing the bar, shooting a decorative mannequin on the way out.
Dean Beachy was pronounced dead at the scene and Steven Beachy died the following day after being taken by helicopter to UPMC Altoona. The Beachys, of Millersburg, Ohio, did not know Witmer and were in the area for a horse auction in Centre Hall. There is no evidence of an argument or other negative interaction between the Beachys and Witmer prior to the shooting.
After being shot, Abrino witnessed the second shot, fired at Dean Beachy, and dialed 911, then collapsed to the ground. The bartender completed the 911 call at 10:14 p.m. Abrino was taken by helicopter to UPMC in Pittsburgh where she remained for weeks and underwent at least 10 surgeries and procedures. She is now home from the hospital, but continues treatment and will suffer from longterm physical damage as a result of the shooting.
Two employees and one other patron hid or fled during the shooting, police said. Officers were on the scene “in less than minutes,” Cantorna said, because they were conducting an unrelated investigation close by.
After leaving the scene, Witmer crashed his Mazda near the intersection of Waupelani Drive and Tussey Lane. He then shot his way through a sliding glass door to the home at 748 Tussey Lane. When police arrived they found resident George McCormick, 83, dead from a gunshot wound to the head and Witmer dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. McCormick’s wife, Joann, was unharmed after locking herself in another room and calling 911.
The McCormicks had celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary that day.
Police said that Witmer had no relationship to the McCormicks and chose their house at random.
Abrino told Cantorna that she saw “no red flags” and they had a normal evening before the shooting.
“She felt perfectly safe walking up to him and saying ‘come on, let’s go home’ after hearing somebody mention the fact that he had a gun,” Cantorna said.
Cantorna also said there are no indications that Witmer was being treated for any mental illness. He had recently been honorably discharged from the U.S. Army and had not served in combat. Cantorna said police have been in contact with Army officials, but did not know if the Army was conducting any kind of review or investigation.
It was previously reported that Witmer pleaded guilty earlier in January to three misdemeanors related to an October DUI crash in Elkton, Ky., about 22 miles from Fort Campbell where he had been stationed with the 101st Airborne Division.
Witmer had a carry permit for the gun.
“In Pennsylvania, unlike a lot of different places, there is no regulation prohibiting guns in bars, nor are there any regulations prohibiting drinking and using guns,” Cantorna said. “I’ve made our representatives aware of these issues and certainly law enforcement does not want to deal with an individual in an intoxicated state with weapons.”
Asked if either establishment Witmer drank at could be cited for serving a visibly intoxicated patron, Cantorna said he did not know but that information was forwarded to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.
For Abrino, it is a long and challenging road to recovery. A bullet is lodged in her spine at the T-11 vertebra and doctors have indicated it cannot be safely removed through surgery, Cantorna said. She cannot walk unassisted, cannot stand for long periods of time and has loss of feeling in her lower extremities.
A GoFundMe campaign was established by her family and friends to raise money for her medical expenses and disability needs for her home. Abrino has posted updates to the page and on Facebook, and recently noted that her medical expenses have quickly exceeded expectations.
She recently wrote that the spinal injury “has left me what was once considered by my therapist a ‘50/50 walker’ but I’m determined to be more.”
She also wrote that after a month in the hospital she was moved to physical therapy where she “worked so hard every day to be the best I could before I left.”
Cantorna said in his conversations with Abrino, she asked him to thank everyone who has supported and reached out to her.
“None of the victims of this crime deserve what occurred. They didn’t do anything to provoke anything,” Cantorna said. “In Ms. Abrino’s case, she was trying to make sure someone got home safe and stepped in, not thinking anything like this would occur, and put herself in harm’s way.”
