PLAINS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The Pennsylvania man caught on video ruthlessly gunning down two neighbors during a snow-shoveling dispute Monday before turning the gun on himself was an engineer and a decorated Navy veteran, according to reports.
Jeffrey Allen Spaide, 47, a Wilkes-Barre native, graduated from Wilkes University with a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering in 2001 and went on to get his master’s degree in water resources and environmental engineering from Villanova University in 2005.
“Jeff was employed as a licensed engineer for over 20 years,” his obituary reads. “He also served in the United States Navy, working as a shipboard engineering technician.”
On his LinkedIn page, which identified him as a “professional engineer,” Spaide cited his active-duty status with the Navy from 1993 through 1998.
Navy officials confirmed Spaide’s service when contacted Friday by The Post. He enlisted in September 1993 and received training in Great Lakes, Illinois. He then served on USS America and USS Nassau, as well as at duty stations in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and Panama City, Florida. His active-duty status ended in May 1998 at a rank of Damage Controlman 2nd Class, Fox News reported.
Spaide received numerous awards and decorations during his military career, according to his service record, including a Navy Achievement Medal, a Meritorious Unit Commendation and two National Defense Service Medals.
He also received an Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, a NATO Medal and Southwest Asia Service Medal with a Bronze Star, the record shows.
After leaving the Navy, Spaide continued his military service with the Army National Guard and Navy Reserve as a “heavy equipment operator,” according to his obituary.
His LinkedIn page says he joined the National Guard in 1999 before joining the Navy Reserve in 2002.
“Operated bulldozers, loaders, rollers, forklifts, dump trucks and other heavy construction equipment while on active duty and in various reserve training projects,” Spaide wrote of his time with the Navy Reserve.
While on active duty years earlier, Spaide said, he was responsible for maintaining water distribution and fire suppression equipment for the Navy, Fox reported.
The virtual resume also described him as being experienced in wastewater projects, landfills, transfer stations and waste-processing facilities.
He last worked as a facility engineer for the Lackawanna River Basin Sewer Authority in Throop, according to his profile.
Prior to that, Spaide listed himself as an environmental engineer manager for Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection, serving as the chief of its regional permitting section.
Following the carnage Monday, a witness reported seeing Spaide pacing inside his home near a window. He then shot himself as police approached, Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis said Tuesday.
———
Original report, Feb. 5, 2021
PLAINS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A dispute over shoveling snow turned deadly on Monday when a man fatally shot his two neighbors before taking his own life in Pennsylvania. Now there is disturbing new video, which captured the dramatic deadly clash.
Surveillance footage shows the married couple yelling obscenities at the man before he grabs a gun and shoots them both in the middle of the street Monday morning in Plains Township, New York Post reported.
“If you step out of here, I’ll knock your a– out,” the male neighbor can be heard saying to the shooter.
Police said Jeffrey Spaide, 47, shot and killed his neighbors, James Goy, 50, and his wife, Lisa, 48, after arguing about shoveling snow onto each other’s property.
“I’ll make your life a living hell living here, d–khead,” James can be heard shouting, to which Spaide responds, “What? … F–k you, you f–king scum.”
James’ wife, who is carrying a shovel, then chimes in, “You’re the f–king scumbag. You don’t know how to talk to somebody.”
“That’s right … You’re a p—y, p—y, p—y,” her husband continues while flipping off the man.
Spaide is seen approaching his neighbors before shooting them.
Footage then shows Spaide walking down his driveway toward them, to which the female neighbor responds, “Go ahead. Go ahead.”
When it becomes clear that the man is holding a gun, James yells, “Put the gun down.”
The man fires several rounds, striking the male neighbor, before shooting his wife.
Footage shows James running back toward his house, while his wife falls to the ground in the middle of the street, where Spaide fires at her twice again.
“Call the cops,” James shouts before the gunman chases and shoots him again.
His wife, lying on the ground, then cries out, “You f–ker, you!”
While others run over to help the couple, Spaide runs out with another, larger rifle.
“You should have kept your f–king mouth [shut],” Spaide can be heard saying before shooting the woman again.
Police said Spaide then went back inside his home and used a third rifle to kill himself, The Post reported.
Police are investigating the vile episode as a murder-suicide.
“Apparently there’s been an ongoing dispute between neighbors, some of which involved a dispute about snow disposal and removal,” Luzerne County First Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce said earlier in the week.
“They’re across the street from each other, and when they would remove snow they would throw it across the street at the other person’s property.”
