Open Carry
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Bellefontaine, Ohio
Killing spree leaves 6 dead
Murder-suicide kills mother, grandparents, three students, sister clings to life at OSU
Bellefontaine Examiner
By Brian J. Evans
Examiner Staff Writer
Scott Moody was looking forward to graduating from Riverside High School at 2 p.m. Sunday, friends and family said about the 18-year-old farmer.
A classmate and family friend, Megan Karus, 19, also was looking forward to graduating at Riverside; she was to graduate with honors.
But Scott and Megan didn't make it to graduation.
On a day that normally marks the beginning of a new chapter in life, their lives tragically ended, along with four others.
Authorities described a gruesome killing spree that started at one farmhouse just west of the Bellefontaine corporation limit, and ended at another neighboring farmhouse - claiming six lives Sunday. A seventh victim clings to her life, in critical condition at The Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus.
Investigators said the night before graduation a party was hosted at 37-year-old Sheri "Kay" Shafer's 2647 W. State Route 47 farmhouse for her son, Scott. Among those present were his sister and Ms. Shafer's daughter, Stacy Moody, 15; Megan Karus, who was Stacy's close friend; and Paige Harshbarger, 14, who was believed to be Scott's new girlfriend.
Logan County Sheriff Michael Henry said three people, whom he would not identify, also were present for the celebration, and when they left the
residence late that night everything was fine. There were no disturbances, no fights, and no death threats.
"Everybody went to bed," said Detective Mike Brugler. "There were no problems. They were all planning to go to graduation that afternoon."
Investigators believe sometime between 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Scott went to his grandparents' 2337 W. State Route 47 farmhouse, about a quarter-mile east of his home, and killed them as they made breakfast.
Sharyl Shafer, 66, and Gary Shafer, 67, were found dead in their kitchen.
Scott had shot them with a semi-automatic .22-caliber rifle, which holds 15 to 17 rounds.
A close friend of the family who lived directly behind the farmhouse, Misty Martin, 23, of 2289 W. State Route 47, said she didn't hear any gunshots
that morning. She remembers getting a call from Stacy's cell phone at 9:30 a.m., but it was mumbled and distorted and she couldn't understand anything.
Not thinking much of it, Ms. Martin told Stacy she would stop by her place later that day, but she didn't make it before police converged on the scene.
After shooting his grandparents, detectives believe, Scott secured the residence and went back to his house, where he went through the place and shot his mother, his sister and Megan and Paige while they were sleeping in various areas of the home.
He then shot himself.
Detectives said Megan was found on a downstairs living room sofa. Ms. Shafer was found in a bed upstairs in one room while Paige and Scott were found in another upstairs bedroom.
Stacy was shot in the neck in a third upstairs bedroom, Sgt. Jeff Cooper said, and Scott thought he'd killed her. However, bleeding heavily from the
neck and in shock, she managed to get downstairs to the kitchen where she called Ms. Martin, a second family friend and her stepsister from a cell
phone. Sgt. Cooper said the girl made the three calls from her cell phone after 9:30 a.m., none of which was to 911. It would be more than an hour
before she received medical attention.
The stepsister, identified on a 911 tape as Nicole Vagedes, drove from her DeGraff residence to the farmhouse and discovered the bodies while on the phone with the sheriff's office.
"My sister just called me and said her mom and her had been beaten up and her mom is not waking up," she said in the frantic call to the sheriff's office. "Somebody came into their house and beat them up. ... It's at the Shafer farm on 47 across from the airport. ... She called us and she told us to come because she had blood all over her and she can't wake her mom up. ... Please hurry."
After the caller went into the house, she said she couldn't feel Ms. Shafer's pulse. While she was on the phone, she walked through the place, discovering other bodies lying around the two-story white panel farmhouse.
Much of the call was distorted and hard to understand because of the caller's screams and cries.
"Oh my God," she cried. "The son and the girlfriend are beat up, too. ... Oh my God. There's only one awake."
"How many people have been beat up?" dispatcher Dawn Heppard asked the caller.
"Four, four," Nicole said. "Oh my God. There's one in the living room, too."
"Okay, what's going on right now honey?" dispatcher Heppard asked. "There's another on the couch," the caller cried.
Deputies responded to the scene with squads from the Bellefontaine Fire Department shortly after the 10:46 a.m. call.
The fatal gunshot wounds led to visible bruising similar to blunt force injuries, investigators said. However, detectives have found no evidence of a struggle.
After losing a lot of blood, paramedics said, Stacy was flown by MedFlight to OSU and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation and the Logan County Coroner's Office were called to the scene.
Based on preliminary evidence at the scene, Sgt. Cooper said, everything indicates Scott was the shooter.
After investigating the first scene, Sgt. Cooper said the investigation led them to the neighboring farmhouse where they discovered Mr. and Mrs. Shafer's bodies.
"We knew the people in the (2647) residence were connected to the Shafers (at 2337)," Sgt. Cooper said. "We wanted to go down there and check to make sure everything was all right number one, and number two, to try get some background to give us some idea on where to go and what to look for. When we got there, that's when we made the discovery."
Riverside School officials were notified only of Scott's death minutes before graduation began and Superintendent Bernie Pachmayer made the announcement after the ceremonies.
"It was a very somber event," Superintendent Pachmayer said. "Most of the people didn't know, but the staff and administrators knew. It was a very sad occasion and it should have been joyous. ... We should have been able to celebrate."
Sheriff Henry said they are working to determine the motives behind the shootings.
"Right now we are trying to figure out why this happened," Sheriff Henry said. "You can't describe how hard this is for the family. ... It's sad; it's really tough. And it's devastating in any community. We've had some ugly tragedies, but none like this. It's hard for us to comprehend why."
Autopsies are being conducted at the Montgomery County Coroner's Office and forensics are being conducted on the gun. Some of the tests could take up to six weeks to complete.
"It takes time to put these things together," Sheriff Henry said. "I'm not sure if we'll ever find out what happened, but we'll try. ... These are the most tragic shootings I've seen in this county in my 31 years here, because of the sheer numbers and all of the victims."
Killing spree leaves 6 dead
Murder-suicide kills mother, grandparents, three students, sister clings to life at OSU
Bellefontaine Examiner
By Brian J. Evans
Examiner Staff Writer
Scott Moody was looking forward to graduating from Riverside High School at 2 p.m. Sunday, friends and family said about the 18-year-old farmer.
A classmate and family friend, Megan Karus, 19, also was looking forward to graduating at Riverside; she was to graduate with honors.
But Scott and Megan didn't make it to graduation.
On a day that normally marks the beginning of a new chapter in life, their lives tragically ended, along with four others.
Authorities described a gruesome killing spree that started at one farmhouse just west of the Bellefontaine corporation limit, and ended at another neighboring farmhouse - claiming six lives Sunday. A seventh victim clings to her life, in critical condition at The Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus.
Investigators said the night before graduation a party was hosted at 37-year-old Sheri "Kay" Shafer's 2647 W. State Route 47 farmhouse for her son, Scott. Among those present were his sister and Ms. Shafer's daughter, Stacy Moody, 15; Megan Karus, who was Stacy's close friend; and Paige Harshbarger, 14, who was believed to be Scott's new girlfriend.
Logan County Sheriff Michael Henry said three people, whom he would not identify, also were present for the celebration, and when they left the
residence late that night everything was fine. There were no disturbances, no fights, and no death threats.
"Everybody went to bed," said Detective Mike Brugler. "There were no problems. They were all planning to go to graduation that afternoon."
Investigators believe sometime between 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Scott went to his grandparents' 2337 W. State Route 47 farmhouse, about a quarter-mile east of his home, and killed them as they made breakfast.
Sharyl Shafer, 66, and Gary Shafer, 67, were found dead in their kitchen.
Scott had shot them with a semi-automatic .22-caliber rifle, which holds 15 to 17 rounds.
A close friend of the family who lived directly behind the farmhouse, Misty Martin, 23, of 2289 W. State Route 47, said she didn't hear any gunshots
that morning. She remembers getting a call from Stacy's cell phone at 9:30 a.m., but it was mumbled and distorted and she couldn't understand anything.
Not thinking much of it, Ms. Martin told Stacy she would stop by her place later that day, but she didn't make it before police converged on the scene.
After shooting his grandparents, detectives believe, Scott secured the residence and went back to his house, where he went through the place and shot his mother, his sister and Megan and Paige while they were sleeping in various areas of the home.
He then shot himself.
Detectives said Megan was found on a downstairs living room sofa. Ms. Shafer was found in a bed upstairs in one room while Paige and Scott were found in another upstairs bedroom.
Stacy was shot in the neck in a third upstairs bedroom, Sgt. Jeff Cooper said, and Scott thought he'd killed her. However, bleeding heavily from the
neck and in shock, she managed to get downstairs to the kitchen where she called Ms. Martin, a second family friend and her stepsister from a cell
phone. Sgt. Cooper said the girl made the three calls from her cell phone after 9:30 a.m., none of which was to 911. It would be more than an hour
before she received medical attention.
The stepsister, identified on a 911 tape as Nicole Vagedes, drove from her DeGraff residence to the farmhouse and discovered the bodies while on the phone with the sheriff's office.
"My sister just called me and said her mom and her had been beaten up and her mom is not waking up," she said in the frantic call to the sheriff's office. "Somebody came into their house and beat them up. ... It's at the Shafer farm on 47 across from the airport. ... She called us and she told us to come because she had blood all over her and she can't wake her mom up. ... Please hurry."
After the caller went into the house, she said she couldn't feel Ms. Shafer's pulse. While she was on the phone, she walked through the place, discovering other bodies lying around the two-story white panel farmhouse.
Much of the call was distorted and hard to understand because of the caller's screams and cries.
"Oh my God," she cried. "The son and the girlfriend are beat up, too. ... Oh my God. There's only one awake."
"How many people have been beat up?" dispatcher Dawn Heppard asked the caller.
"Four, four," Nicole said. "Oh my God. There's one in the living room, too."
"Okay, what's going on right now honey?" dispatcher Heppard asked. "There's another on the couch," the caller cried.
Deputies responded to the scene with squads from the Bellefontaine Fire Department shortly after the 10:46 a.m. call.
The fatal gunshot wounds led to visible bruising similar to blunt force injuries, investigators said. However, detectives have found no evidence of a struggle.
After losing a lot of blood, paramedics said, Stacy was flown by MedFlight to OSU and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation and the Logan County Coroner's Office were called to the scene.
Based on preliminary evidence at the scene, Sgt. Cooper said, everything indicates Scott was the shooter.
After investigating the first scene, Sgt. Cooper said the investigation led them to the neighboring farmhouse where they discovered Mr. and Mrs. Shafer's bodies.
"We knew the people in the (2647) residence were connected to the Shafers (at 2337)," Sgt. Cooper said. "We wanted to go down there and check to make sure everything was all right number one, and number two, to try get some background to give us some idea on where to go and what to look for. When we got there, that's when we made the discovery."
Riverside School officials were notified only of Scott's death minutes before graduation began and Superintendent Bernie Pachmayer made the announcement after the ceremonies.
"It was a very somber event," Superintendent Pachmayer said. "Most of the people didn't know, but the staff and administrators knew. It was a very sad occasion and it should have been joyous. ... We should have been able to celebrate."
Sheriff Henry said they are working to determine the motives behind the shootings.
"Right now we are trying to figure out why this happened," Sheriff Henry said. "You can't describe how hard this is for the family. ... It's sad; it's really tough. And it's devastating in any community. We've had some ugly tragedies, but none like this. It's hard for us to comprehend why."
Autopsies are being conducted at the Montgomery County Coroner's Office and forensics are being conducted on the gun. Some of the tests could take up to six weeks to complete.
"It takes time to put these things together," Sheriff Henry said. "I'm not sure if we'll ever find out what happened, but we'll try. ... These are the most tragic shootings I've seen in this county in my 31 years here, because of the sheer numbers and all of the victims."
(if only that poor Scott would have had a gun that could only hold 10 rounds) THE SAME NUMBER OF PEOPLE WOULD HAVE BEEN KILLED SENSELESSLY!! 
