A man accused of fatally shooting one person and injuring another near to a gas station in Pennsylvania has died by suicide, according to authorities.
At least one person was killed in the incident that occurred at around 4:45am on Wednesday morning close to a Wawa gas station in Upper Macungie Township, Lehigh County district attorney Jim Martin revealed at an early morning press conference.
He said that police responded to reports of a man driving a white Toyota Corolla opening fire on a woman in a different car on Route 22 just before pulling into the gas station’s car park. The woman was not injured in the incident, the authorities confirmed.
Mr Martin claimed on Wednesday that the man then continued shooting at others in the area, injuring a person driving a Jeep and killing a different driver filling up his truck with petrol.
The suspect then ran around a quarter of a mile from the gas station, where the authorities said he died by suicide after shooting himself in the head and chest.
The Jeep driver was taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Mr Martin did not provide any motive for the shooting, adding that it appeared to have “been indiscriminate and unrelated.”
The district attorney praised a Wawa employee for his quick thinking during the incident early on Wednesday morning, as he protected others after hearing gunshots while taking out the garbage at the gas station.
“He ushered two prospective customers from the parking lot into the Wawa and he alerted the employees in the Wawa to shelter in place and he locked the doors,” Mr Martin said, adding: “So, all credit to him.”
Before the suspect had been found close to the gas station, other businesses were put on lockdown as an officer urged people to avoid the area “at all costs,” according to the New York Post.
The names of the suspect and victims have not yet been released by the authorities. A nearby school was closed following the shooting on Wednesday.
