Robert Mark “Bo” Raber Jr., a 30-year-old White/Caucasian man, was one of five people killed in a mass shooting at a home on Sugar Grove Road outside Morgantown, West Virginia. Contemporary news reports and Raber’s obituary place his death on Monday, September 5, 2011, rather than September 4. Raber was living at the residence with members of the Richardson-Hudson family and was engaged to Katrina Hudson.
She was six months pregnant with their daughter, whom the couple had planned to name Alexis Paige Raber.
The violence unfolded during the afternoon at the rural residence at 100 Sugar Grove Road. West Virginia State Police later identified the other victims as Charles Richardson III, Karin Richardson, and Karin’s children, Katrina Hudson and Kevin Hudson. Investigators believed all five victims had been shot with a high-powered rifle. Authorities estimated the killings occurred sometime around 3:30 to 4:30 that afternoon. After someone concerned about the situation contacted authorities, troopers went to check the residence. When they entered, they initially encountered three bodies, two in the kitchen and another in the living room. After determining that the shooter was no longer inside and securing the property, officers continued searching and discovered two additional victims in a bathroom. Police did not publicly specify which victim was found in each location.
Investigators identified Shayne Franklin Riggleman of Morgantown as the person responsible for the killings. Police said Riggleman left the home after the shootings and began a violent flight that crossed several states. He traveled roughly 20 miles into Fairchance, Pennsylvania, where he met with a former girlfriend. After leaving the area, he became involved in a collision and then deliberately struck the other vehicle’s driver with the vehicle he was driving, seriously injuring her. Riggleman subsequently headed south through West Virginia, stopping at a gas station near Amma in Roane County, where police said he randomly shot attendant Don Nichols in the neck. Nichols survived despite being critically wounded.
The connection between Riggleman and the household became an important part of the investigation, although police declined to publicly establish a definitive motive. A close friend of the Richardson family told reporters that Riggleman’s former girlfriend, Brittany Harwood, had moved in with the Richardsons approximately a month before the killings after allegedly trying to get away from Riggleman. The friend believed jealousy may have motivated the attack. State Police Capt. James Merrill said investigators believed they had an idea of the motive but were withholding it while the investigation continued. Because Riggleman died before investigators could question him, authorities acknowledged that some questions about exactly why Raber and the others were targeted might never be conclusively answered.
Riggleman also had a criminal history before the murders. West Virginia corrections officials reported that he had previously been convicted of armed robbery in Monongalia County and was sentenced in December 2008 to the Anthony Correctional Center, a facility for young offenders. He began serving the sentence in January 2009 and was released in March 2010 after approximately 14 months. At the time of the Morgantown killings, officials initially said it was unclear whether he remained on probation from that case.
Riggleman ultimately drove into Kentucky, where a Lewis County sheriff’s deputy attempted to stop him for reckless driving. He initially failed to stop, prompting a brief pursuit, before pulling to the roadside approximately half a mile later. When the deputy approached, Riggleman was found suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He died without being taken into custody. Authorities recovered three firearms associated with him, including the high-powered rifle investigators believed had been used in the Morgantown killings, another rifle, and a. 22-caliber handgun. Because Riggleman died during his flight, there was no arrest for Raber’s murder, no criminal prosecution, and no trial or conviction arising from the five killings.
Raber’s death also meant the loss of the future he and Katrina had been preparing to build together. His obituary identified Katrina as his fiancée and their unborn daughter as Alexis Paige Raber. Raber left behind a son as well as his parents, sister, nieces and other relatives. Those who knew him remembered “Bo” as someone who enjoyed hunting, riding four-wheelers and spending time with his son and nieces. What began as an afternoon at a rural Morgantown-area home ended with Raber, his fiancée, their unborn child and three members of her family dead, followed by a multistate rampage whose only identified suspect took his own life before he could ever be brought before a court.
