Melcroft is an unincorporated community in Saltlick Township in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States.[1] The community is located along state routes 381 and 711, 10.9 miles (17.5 km) east-northeast of Connellsville. Melcroft has a post office, with ZIP code 15462, which opened on September 13, 1918.[2][3]
Melcroft, Pennsylvania | |
|---|---|
Unincorporated community | |
  Melcroft  Melcroft | |
| Coordinates: 40°03′07″N 79°23′21″W / 40.05194°N 79.38917°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Fayette |
| Elevation | 1,417 ft (432 m) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code | 15462 |
| Area code(s) | 724, 878 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1180877[1] |
History
editThe community's name is an amalgamation of Mellon and Croft, surnames of businessmen in the local mining industry.[4]
2018 shooting
editIn 2018, a mass shooting at a car wash left five people dead, including the perpetrator, and a sixth person with minor injuries. The incident occurred on January 28, 2018, at Ed's Car Wash, just before 3:00 a.m., in the Melcroft community of Saltlick Township, south-east of Pittsburgh. There was supposed to be a fistfight between Smith and Porterfield, but the other victims did not have any idea what was going on, according to police. Chelsie Cline, 25, her half-brother, Seth Cline, 21, her boyfriend at the time, William "Billy" Porterfield, 27, a friend, Cortney Snyder, 23, and another unidentified woman, met with 28-year-old Timothy O’Brien Smith at the car wash. Smith had previously been in a relationship with Cline and reportedly had an ongoing feud with Porterfield, who was her boyfriend at the time.[5] Surveillance video had shown Smith grabbing Porterfield from behind earlier that morning at the Tall Cedars bar. Smith arrived at the car wash wearing a body armor carrier without the ballistic panels, and was armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, a .308-caliber rifle, and a 9mm handgun.[6]
Smith opened fire on the victims with both his AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and 9mm handgun. First, he killed both Cline and Porterfield, by gunning them down in the car wash's parking lot after they stepped out of their sedan. He then killed Snyder and Cline's half-brother as they sat in their pickup truck. The unidentified woman with them who sat in the back of the vehicle survived after being taken to hospital.[7] In total, three vehicles were towed from the location, two were pickup trucks and the other was a sedan. After killing four people, Smith turned the gun on himself and shot himself in the head.[8] He initially survived, but died at a hospital just before 10:00 p.m.[9] An autopsy confirmed that all fatal victims had been shot multiple times.[10] At the time, it was the deadliest shooting in the U.S. in the year 2018, until it was surpassed by the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting just seventeen days later.[11]
References
edit- ^ a b "Melcroft". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ United States Postal Service. "USPS – Look Up a ZIP Code". Retrieved June 12, 2017.
- ^ "Postmaster Finder – Post Offices by ZIP Code". United States Postal Service. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
- ^ Fayette County Survey of Boroughs and Unincorporated Townships. Prepared for the Redevelopment Authority of the County of Fayette. 1996. p. 1869.
... named "Melcroft" in honor of A.W. and R.B. Mellon and H.W. Croft who were Keppers' principal stockholders at that time.
- ^ "MELCROFT SHOOTING: What we know about 4 people killed at car wash". WPXI. January 29, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
- ^ "4 killed in shooting at car wash in Melcroft, Pennsylvania". CBS News. January 28, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
- ^ "Jealousy and obsession may have led carwash shooting suspect to kill four, relatives say". The Washington Post. January 30, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
- ^ dhurst@tribdem.com, David Hurst (February 1, 2018). "Fayette County gunman killed self, autopsy reveals". The Cumberland Times-News. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
- ^ Park, Madison; Sutton, Joe (January 29, 2018). "Suspect in quadruple killing at car wash dies". CNN. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
- ^ Tribune-Democrat, David Hurst | The (Johnstown) (January 31, 2018). "Coroner: Victims in Fayette County shooting hit by multiple bullets". The Daily Item. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
- ^ "Four dead in shooting at Pennsylvania car wash linked to domestic violence". The Guardian. January 28, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2018.