A woman who worked at a Penn State satellite campus apparently was shot dead by her estranged husband in a university parking lot on Wednesday, and the man then killed himself, police said.
The woman was 49-year-old Leslie Kelly, of Ohioville, who worked in food services at Penn State Beaver. She was shot multiple times just before 4 p.m. by 52-year-old William Kelly, of Hopewell, said state police Lt. Eric Hermick.
An officer heard the shots and lots of screaming and responded to the scene, where he found the woman and her estranged husband dead beside her car, he said.
Hermick said it wasn't a random event.
“We’re getting indications that there was domestic issues, child support issues, and we’re also getting information that he had been harassing her," he said. "So right now we’re in the process of researching where the guns were purchased from.”
There was no protection from abuse order filed against William Kelly, Hermick said.
Hermick said William Kelly apparently had lured Leslie to the parking lot, saying he had Christmas presents for their children. Police said they found Christmas presents at the scene.
The couple had three children, whom police say are with their grandparents.
“We’ve verified that all the children are OK, that was the urgent matter in this case, other than there was no active shooter, the urgency was to find out where all the family members were because we did find evidence in the vehicle that alarmed us to indicate somebody else may have been harmed prior to this event," Hermick said.
Penn State Beaver, about 35 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, issued a 3:56 p.m. that shots were fired but said the situation was contained.
01PSU AlertBR: Shots fired near Bistro. Situation is contained. We will remain on lockdown until further notice. Authorities responding.
— Penn State Beaver (@PennStateBeaver) December 13, 2017
There was never a threat to the general campus population, Hermick said.
"I know there's often panic about college campuses and talk about active shooters, but that's not the situation," he said. "It appears to be some type of domestic violence issue here."
About 650 students attend the school, but not many were on campus because it's finals week, Penn State Beaver spokeswoman April Johnston-Smith said. The campus has been closed for the day, she said.
UPDATED: 9:06 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
