On July 9, 2019, a fatal shooting occurred at the Ace Home Center in Pennsboro, Ritchie County, West Virginia. The incident involved a longstanding dispute between two individuals: Brian Cronin, a 59-year-old man from St. Marys, and Johnny Gregg, a 66-year-old employee of the Ace Home Center, also from St. Marys.
The confrontation that led to the shooting began when Cronin arrived at the store and confronted Gregg. According to the Ritchie County Sheriff's Department, this confrontation escalated into gunfire. Brian Cronin was fatally shot while he was inside his vehicle in the parking lot of the Ace Home Center.
The investigation into the shooting was conducted by the Ritchie County Sheriff's Department, with assistance from the West Virginia State Police and the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Police. Initially, no arrests were made, but the sheriff's office later reported that a suspect had been taken into custody.
The suspect, identified as Johnny Gregg, was cooperating with authorities at the time of the report.
Johnny Gregg, the 66-year-old employee of Ace Home Center, was the individual involved in the dispute with Brian Cronin. Although Gregg had been questioned by police and was taken into custody, he had not been formally charged at the time of the initial reports. The sheriff's office indicated that charges were still pending, and the investigation was ongoing.
The incident did not pose an active threat to the public, as all parties involved had been identified by the authorities. Following the shooting, Cronin's body was transferred to the West Virginia Chief Medical Examiner's Office in Charleston for further examination.
In summary, the death of Brian Cronin resulted from a confrontation with Johnny Gregg, an employee at the Ace Home Center, which had roots in a longstanding dispute. Gregg was taken into custody and was cooperating with the investigation, but as of the initial reports, he had not been formally charged. The investigation involved multiple law enforcement agencies and was ongoing at the time.
