Dave Sweazy was supposed to be at the meeting, but couldn't make it, coming this morning to find out who was wounded and injured. He praised Bernie Kozen, who reportedly shot the alleged shooter.
Dave Sweazy was supposed to be at the meeting Monday night at the Ross Township Municipal Building, but a family chore diverted him.
The township Park Commission member came to the municipal building this morning, about 14 hours after township resident Rockne Newell, 59, of the 200 block of Flyte Road, allegedly shot several people at the meeting, killing three.
"I had planned to be there, but fortunately had to take my nephew someplace," Sweazy said, his eyes shifting between the cordoned off municipal building and circling helicopter above.
View full size Bernie Kozen, above, reportedly bear-hugged and shot alleged Ross Township Municipal Building shooter Rockne Newell on Tuesday night after several people were wounded, three of them fatally. Newell is in custody this morning because of Bernie Kozen, the West End Regional Park and open space executive director, who reportedly put Newell in a bear hug, tackled him with the help of 47-year-old Ross Township resident, Mark Kresh. Newell was shot in the leg during the struggle, but police say they're not sure how that happened.
"He is so giving to the community," Sweazy said of Kozem. "He just lives and breathes to give back to this community."
Kozen arrived at mid-morning at the municipal building and while working his way through the throng of media in order to speak with Pennsylvania State Police, declined comment, only saying "I lost a close friend."
Names of the dead -- two died in the municipal building while the other died after a flight to St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill -- will be released at a news conference at 11:30 this morning at the Monroe County emergency dispatch center, county Coroner Bob Allen said.
Sweazy said Newell had a longstanding dispute with the township about his property. Part of the dispute involved a septic line. Sweazy, who didn't knock Newell, said Newell often sought publicity, but Sweazy described him as a loner.
"He had no one and nothing," Sweazy said of Newell.
Sweazy lives about two miles from the municipal building and knows officials and residents who frequent township meetings, he said. He came this morning to the municipal building to find out the names of those wounded or injured in the shooting.
"This is something beyond my imagination," he said.