Shannon N. Bongartz, a 28-year-old female, was killed on the morning of August 20, 2014, in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, in a double shooting that also took the life of John T. Russ. Online reports identified Bongartz as being from Penn Hills, Verona, or Natrona Heights, while the shooting itself happened in New Kensington, near the 400 block of Fourth Avenue in the Parnassus section.
She was found dead in the street near a parked vehicle, while Russ, who was described as her boyfriend, was found shot inside the vehicle near his home.
The gunfire broke the morning open in broad daylight, around 8:25 to 8:30 a.m. Neighbors reported hearing several sharp pops and soon realized they were gunshots. Police and the Westmoreland County coroner later said both Bongartz and Russ had been shot multiple times, and their deaths were ruled homicides. Russ was identified as 43 and from New Kensington; Bongartz was described in reports as his girlfriend and a mother. Her obituary said she had children and had passed away suddenly in New Kensington.
In the immediate aftermath, police were reportedly looking for a man seen running from the scene, but authorities did not announce a suspect right away. The case remained publicly unresolved for several weeks as investigators worked through search warrants, phone records, and information from witnesses and informants. The shooting occurred during a period when New Kensington was dealing with several violent incidents, adding to public fear and prompting community concern over gun violence in the area.
In October 2014, New Kensington police announced that they believed the shooter was Brian Hall, an 18-year-old from the Penn Hills/Plum area. Police said Hall was already dead by the time they publicly identified him as the suspect. He had been found dead in Pittsburgh's Homewood neighborhood about 24 hours after the killings of Bongartz and Russ. Because Hall was deceased, he was not arrested or prosecuted for the double homicide.
Investigators described the motive as drug-related and focused particularly on a dispute involving Russ. New Kensington Police Chief Thomas Klawinski said information gathered by investigators indicated Russ had taken a substantial amount of money and drugs from Hall. Police said that was the apparent source of the conflict that led to the shooting. Reports did not describe Bongartz as being the target of a separate dispute; she appeared to have been killed alongside Russ during the same attack.
No arrest was reported in Bongartz and Russ's killings after Hall was named as the suspect, since police believed the person responsible was already dead. Authorities also said they did not know whether Hall's own killing was retaliation for the double homicide, and no one had been charged in Hall's death at the time of the reports. Hall had also been wanted in an unrelated case, with Allegheny County police having charged him with attempted homicide and other crimes connected to a drug-related robbery and shooting in Wilkinsburg in May 2013.
