Why? Why would someone do something like this? It's one thing to take your own life, but why would you kill someone else? I go to the same school as she did and although I did not know her very well, most of my friends knew her very well. I was at school when this happened, just about to play a lacrosse game. I did not hear the gunshots, but my neighbor, who was practicing just across the street from where it happened, did hear them. And she was completely terrified.
I just don't get it.
EDIT: I think you might have to sign up to view the article, so here it is:
Alana MacNeil, 15, tried to hide from her stepfather as he fired his shotgun - nearly a dozen times - inside her Phoenixville home during an after-school rampage, police said.
But Thomas Conroy, 44, spotted the Phoenixville High School sophomore in a basement bedroom and killed her, then himself, police said.
"It seems like he was shooting up the place until he found her," said Phoenixville Acting Chief Lt. William Mossman. Police said Conroy had fired at least 10 shotgun blasts throughout the house.
Minutes later, Conroy shot and killed himself as a swarm of cops and a SWAT team surrounded the house on Lincoln Avenue near City Line across the street from the high school.
Parents, students and teachers heard the shots, and then watched the surreal standoff yards away from the classrooms.
Police say Conroy's rage had been focused on his ex-wife, Alana's mother, Caroline Conroy, who was not home during his shooting rampage. The two had a 2-year-old together who was away with a baby-sitter.
Cops said the couple recently separated.
But "they were still having problems," Mossman said.
Thomas Conroy was living in Willow Grove after the divorce. Police said he used to be a lawyer but was disbarred a few years ago.
Mossman said the Conroys had been arguing heatedly yesterday, prompting Thomas Conroy's surprise deadly visit.
He was so enraged that when Alana refused to open the door, he shot through the locks, police said.
But Thomas Conroy, 44, spotted the Phoenixville High School sophomore in a basement bedroom and killed her, then himself, police said.
"It seems like he was shooting up the place until he found her," said Phoenixville Acting Chief Lt. William Mossman. Police said Conroy had fired at least 10 shotgun blasts throughout the house.
Minutes later, Conroy shot and killed himself as a swarm of cops and a SWAT team surrounded the house on Lincoln Avenue near City Line across the street from the high school.
Parents, students and teachers heard the shots, and then watched the surreal standoff yards away from the classrooms.
Police say Conroy's rage had been focused on his ex-wife, Alana's mother, Caroline Conroy, who was not home during his shooting rampage. The two had a 2-year-old together who was away with a baby-sitter.
Cops said the couple recently separated.
But "they were still having problems," Mossman said.
Thomas Conroy was living in Willow Grove after the divorce. Police said he used to be a lawyer but was disbarred a few years ago.
Mossman said the Conroys had been arguing heatedly yesterday, prompting Thomas Conroy's surprise deadly visit.
He was so enraged that when Alana refused to open the door, he shot through the locks, police said.
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