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Left inset: Christopher Wasnetsky (Lackawanna County Prison). Right inset: Jeffrey Moeller and his wife (GoFundMe). Background: The Lowe’s store where Wasnetsky is accused of fatally shooting Moeller (WNEP).
An employee at a Lowe’s near Scranton, Pennsylvania, walked up to a co-worker on a forklift and shot him dead, cops allege.
Before the incident, Christopher Wasnetsky, 36, emailed the human resources department, expressing that he would not have resorted to killing his coworker Jeffrey Moeller if his earlier grievances against him had been addressed. This information is detailed in a criminal complaint reported by local ABC affiliate WNEP and the Scranton Times-Tribune.
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Wasnetsky stands accused of first- and third-degree murder in Moeller’s death.
Authorities in Scranton arrived at the Lowe’s on Viewmont Drive at approximately 12:30 a.m. on Saturday. They discovered 44-year-old Moeller lying in a pool of blood, having sustained two gunshot wounds to the head and one to the back, as the complaint outlines. Moeller was transported by paramedics to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Cops apparently didn’t have to wait long for a confession. After shooting Moeller, Wasnetsky is said to have called 911.
“I’d like to report a shooting at Dickson City Lowe’s,” he allegedly told a dispatcher. “I was the person that did it.”
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When the dispatcher asked why he pulled the trigger, Wasnetsky reportedly said it had to do with “months of harassment and other things.” The store manager later told detectives they looked into Wasnetsky’s complaints but found no evidence to back them up, according to the complaint.
Wasnetsky reiterated his beef with Moeller when talking to detectives.
“He said the victim, Jeff, had been harassing him over a period of time, and no one would do anything about it,” police reportedly wrote in the affidavit.
He allegedly said he brought a handgun with him to work and planned on shooting Moller before turning the weapon on himself. Wasnetsky reportedly told cops he had practiced shooting the gun in his backyard.
Detectives reviewed surveillance footage from the store that captured the shooting. Moeller was on the forklift when Wasnetsky allegedly walked up to him while wheeling a shopping cart. He pulled out a gun from the cart and shot Moeller from about 5 feet away, cops reportedly allege. Moeller fell to the ground and tried to crawl to safety, but Wasnetsky stood over him and fired more shots, per the complaint.
On a GoFundMe page, the victim’s sister challenged the notion that her husband had been harassing Wasnetsky. Moeller had reported “ongoing concerns” with Wasnetsky to HR “multiple times.”
“On June 14th, my brother Jeffrey’s life was senselessly and violently taken from him,” wrote Christina Moeller. “While working the job he was so proud of at Lowe’s in Pennsylvania, he was shot and killed by a coworker — a coworker he had reported multiple times to Human Resources due to ongoing concerns. To our knowledge, the individual had been making troubling comments directed at Jeffrey. Despite Jeffrey’s repeated reports, nothing was done.”
A Lowe’s spokesperson said in a statement to local media the company is working closely with law enforcement.
“The safety of our associates and customers is our top priority, and we are deeply saddened by this senseless act of violence,” the statement said.
Moeller had been a stay-at-home dad for the three daughters he shared with his wife. Once the girls were old enough for school, he took overnight shifts at Lowe’s so he could still be with them during the day, his sister said.
“That’s just the kind of man he was — loyal, dedicated, and full of love for his family,” she wrote. “If you knew Jeffrey, you knew he had the softest heart & the loudest laugh. He & Keisha had recently reconnected with their faith, and he was planning to be baptized this Father’s Day, alongside his daughters. He was so proud to be their dad, everything he did was for his family.”
Wasnetsky remains in the Lackawanna County Prison without bond. His next court date is scheduled for June 30.
