Michael J. Bacha, a 71-year-old male from the Slanesville area of Hampshire County, West Virginia, was killed on May 13, 2026, in a shooting outside a residence near Redstone Mountain Court, off Spring Gap Road. At approximately 1:58 p.m., Hampshire County 911 received a report that a shooting victim had been found outside the home. According to investigators, Bacha had already been dead for several hours when he was discovered. A neighbor reportedly went to check on him at the request of Bacha’s wife and found him lying outside the residence. Hampshire County sheriff’s deputies and West Virginia State Police troopers responded and determined that he had suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
The investigation quickly focused on the homeowner and Bacha’s neighbor, Robert Allen Shartzer, 83. Authorities learned that Shartzer had left the property on a four-wheeler and entered the large, heavily wooded area behind the residence.
Because investigators believed he was still carrying a handgun, an extensive search began. Hampshire County deputies and West Virginia State Police were assisted by outside agencies, including a Maryland State Police helicopter or medevac crew, K-9 teams from the Allegany County Sheriff’s Office, and Hampshire County drone teams. Thick foliage and rugged terrain complicated the effort as officers searched logging roads and surrounding woods for the suspect.
Authorities located Shartzer at about 7:20 to 7:22 p.m., several hours after Bacha was discovered. Members of the search team were traveling old logging roads in a utility vehicle when they encountered Shartzer riding his four-wheeler. He was taken into custody without incident. Deputies found a loaded. 40-caliber Glock pistol in a storage compartment on the four-wheeler, and investigators reported that Shartzer acknowledged that the handgun was the weapon used in the shooting.
Investigators said the shooting grew out of a dispute between two neighbors who had previously maintained what appeared to be a helpful relationship. Bacha had reportedly assisted Shartzer with transportation to medical appointments and had taken him for cataract surgery the day before the killing. On the morning of May 13, Bacha returned to Shartzer’s residence to take him to a follow-up eye appointment. Shartzer later told investigators that he had become angry because of earlier verbal disagreements with Bacha and claimed that Bacha was verbally abusive toward him that morning. According to the sheriff’s account of Shartzer’s statement, the disagreement led Shartzer to go inside the residence, retrieve the pistol, and confront Bacha outside.
Shartzer told investigators that he shot Bacha three times. Authorities believed the third shot, fired at close range, was probably the fatal wound. Investigators determined that Bacha was unarmed and said they found no evidence that a physical fight occurred before the gunfire. The available investigative account indicated that all of the shots were fired while Bacha was outside the residence. After the shooting, Shartzer reportedly remained at the property for a period of time before leaving on the four-wheeler and heading into the surrounding woods.
Shartzer was arrested following the search and charged in connection with Bacha’s killing. Contemporary reporting described the charge as murder, with WV MetroNews reporting specifically that he was charged with first-degree murder and lodged in the Potomac Highlands Regional Jail. The investigation remained ongoing in the immediate aftermath of the arrest. The available online reporting reviewed through August 15, 2026, does not provide a later documented plea, trial verdict, sentencing, or conviction in the case, leaving the publicly reported criminal proceedings at the stage of Shartzer’s arrest and murder charge.
