In the late afternoon of June 20, 2017, a street fight in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, tragically cut short the life of 19-year-old Tyson Hettenschuller. The young man, a 2015 graduate of Chambersburg Area Senior High School, was a father to a young son and was remembered by friends and family for his enjoyment of skateboarding, fishing, and video games.
The incident unfolded around 2:15 p.m.
near the intersection of Garber Street and Lincoln Way West, where a physical altercation had broken out between two individuals. The situation escalated when three other young men joined the fray. Hettenschuller, in an attempt to aid a friend involved in the initial dispute, intervened. It was at this point that one of the newcomers, 18-year-old Sean Anthony Atkins, produced a handgun and fired multiple shots, striking Hettenschuller in the torso. He was rushed to Chambersburg Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
In the immediate aftermath, the Chambersburg Police Department launched an investigation, detaining and questioning several individuals involved in the fight. While one man was initially detained and later released, the focus of the investigation quickly turned to Sean Anthony Atkins. After a public plea for information regarding his whereabouts, police received several tips that led to his apprehension on the 300 block of West Loudon Street later that same evening.
Atkins was subsequently charged with first-degree murder. During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that the 9mm handgun used in the shooting had been stolen by Atkins from his uncle's home in Fayetteville about a month prior to the incident. Atkins later confessed to shooting Hettenschuller. In March 2019, Sean Anthony Atkins went on trial in Franklin County. Following the presentation of evidence and testimony, he was ultimately convicted of the lesser-included offense of voluntary manslaughter. The other individuals involved in the fight were interviewed by police, but no further arrests were made in connection with Hettenschuller's death.
