An unhinged Lowe’s employee shot and killed his coworker as he operated a forklift during an overnight shift at the hardware store — then bizarrely fessed up to the murder in an email to human resources.
Christopher Wasnetsky, 36, allegedly unloaded multiple shots at 44-year-old Jeff Moeller while he was working at a Lowe’s in Scranton, Pa., around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Scranton Times-Tribune.
Officers found Moeller — a father of three — was struck twice in the head and once in the back and was in critical condition, the outlet added.
The responding officers immediately rushed Moeller to Geisinger Community Medical Center, where he later died from his injuries.
Police quickly identified Wasnetsky as the alleged shooter and arrested him at the front entrance of the hardware store.
Wasnetsky told police that he was the one to call in the shooting 911 and brazenly told the operator that he was the “person that did it,” the outlet reported.
The suspect also said he sent an email to Lowe’s management and human resources before committing the shooting, stating what he was going to do and that it could have been avoided if someone had stepped in to address his claims earlier.
Wasnetsky claimed to investigators that Moeller had been harassing him at work and management had done nothing to resolve the ongoing issues despite his filings.
Wasnetsky told police he had been prepping to carry out the shooting by doing target practice in his backyard with a Springfield 9 mm handgun.
He admitted that he shot Moeller, who was on the forklift, in the chest from about five feet away.
Moeller then fell out of the machine and pleaded with the suspect for help as he struggled on the ground.
Wasnetsky told investigators he then shot Moeller twice in the head to end his suffering. He also said he planned to kill himself as well, but backed out, the outlet reported.
Wasnetsky was charged with first and third-degree murder and is currently being held on no bail at the Lackawanna County Prison.
He is scheduled to appear in front of a judge for his preliminary hearing on June 30th.
Moeller is remembered as a hardworking husband and father of three daughters, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help the family with funeral costs.
“If you knew Jeffrey, you knew he had the softest heart & the loudest laugh,” the fundraising page reads.
“He & Keisha had recently reconnected with their faith, and he was planning to be baptized this Father’s Day, alongside his daughters. He was so proud to be their dad, everything he did was for his family.”
One of his Lowe’s coworkers, Kassie Sierra, told the Scranton Times-Tribune that the father of three was a “kind man and great friend.”
“(He) worked hard for his wife and daughters, and he always had a smile,” Sierra said.
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