Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard
Link copied to clipboard

Woman shoots neighbor, self at Chesco veterans’ apartment complex, police say

Both survived and were taken to a hospital. The shooter barricaded herself and set a fire before turning the weapon on herself, police said.

Police say a woman shot a neighbor and then herself at the Whitehall Apartments, a 48-unit complex for veterans in Chester County.
Police say a woman shot a neighbor and then herself at the Whitehall Apartments, a 48-unit complex for veterans in Chester County.Read moreSTEVEN M. FALK / Staff Photographer

A woman shot and wounded a man living in a neighboring apartment in East Vincent Township before barricading herself in her own residence, setting a fire, and shooting herself in the head Tuesday morning, officials said.

Both survived and were taken to Paoli Hospital, but officials did not provide any information about their conditions.

Police said the shooting occurred about 6:20 a.m. at the Whitehall Apartments, a 48-unit complex for veterans at 3795 Schuylkill Rd.

The man was leaving his apartment when the woman, who lives across the hall, opened fire, hitting the victim “multiple times” in a leg and his back, the Chester County District Attorney’s Office and East Vincent police said in a joint statement.

While the wounded man fled to a grassy area in therear of the building, where he collapsed, the woman retreated to her apartment, barricading herself inside and setting a fire in her bedroom before shooting herself in the head. The apartment’s sprinkler system extinguished the fire.

Officials did not immediately release the names of the man or the woman or disclose a possible motive. They also did not provide any information about the weapon used in the shooting.

County detectives and East Vincent police are investigating.

Residents told TV news stations that police evacuated the building while responding to what authorities were considering an active shooter situation.