This article contains discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
A 2016 video posted by YouTuber Randy Stair led one of his online friends to end their connection with him. Less than a year afterward, Stair carried out a shooting at a Weis Markets supermarket in Pennsylvania, where he trapped and killed three co-workers before dying by suicide.
“It was scary,” Sammy told News Agency. “I don’t want to say it was almost like a betrayal, but I couldn’t believe someone so friendly with me, someone who was so close to me, could make something so personal and upload it publicly. I blocked him for the last time after he released that video about me.”
Sammy had been an online friend of Randy Stair before the 2017 Weis Markets shooting. (ID)
Stair’s case is examined in Investigation Discovery’s true crime series “Deadly Influence: The Social Media Murders.” The episode, titled “Enter the Ghost World,” looks at his internet presence, growing obsessions and the red flags that preceded the deadly attack.
In April 2016, Stair posted a video called “A Promise Kept.” According to several mutual friends, the video contained graphic threats aimed at Sammy, including a detailed description of how he planned to kill her. Sammy said she could not make sense of what had driven his anger.
The video also featured an animated “Teenage Girl Missing” poster with a drawing that appeared to resemble Sammy. Near the end, Stair — portrayed as Ember McLain from “Danny Phantom” — is shown holding what appears to be Sammy’s severed head.
“You’re gonna pay for what you did to me,” Stair says in the video. “Mark my words … You’re not safe. … You were once a sweet little girl in my eyes. But that was very short-lived. Just like your very existence.”
Sammy said the video convinced her to permanently end all contact with Stair.
“He would post very cryptic, indirect things on Twitter, but obviously you couldn’t be completely sure,” Sammy said. “And I think we all wanted to keep an eye on him. We would block him and unblock him to look at his account. But after that video went up, that’s when I blocked him for good and ceased all contact.”
Captain John Nederostek of Pennsylvania State Police played a leading role in the official investigation of the 2017 Weis Markets shooting committed by Randy Stair. (ID)
Stair launched his YouTube channel, PioneersProductions, around 2008, when he was about 15 years old. Much of his early content consisted of sketch comedy and self-deprecating homemade short films. Sammy discovered the channel when she was about 12 and became a fan. When Stair was about 21, the two began communicating online.
“I think what drew me to his page was how his videos almost felt like home videos,” Sammy said. “I grew up with brothers, so they also liked his videos and related to them. It made Randy relatable to me as a person, not just as a content creator.”
“Our chats mainly started with us talking about his YouTube videos,” Sammy said. “But we both really liked music, and we shared a lot of common interests. I guess I viewed him almost like a big brother. We had a similar sense of humor. He was very friendly in the beginning.”
Billy Spickerman, Randy Stair’s co-worker at Weis Markets and partner of victim Victoria Todd Brong. (ID)
As Stair’s audience grew, he began posting more personal videos, including behind-the-scenes footage and personal reflections. The episode describes Stair as an introvert who appeared awkward when he wasn’t filming.
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“I think when it comes to YouTube or any type of edited media, you have multiple chances to get something right,” Sammy said. “If you don’t like how something is turning out, you can redo it. I think that’s what he liked. He didn’t have to get things perfect. He could have a couple of takes to get things exactly how he wanted. I think that allowed him to express himself more easily than he could in the moment, in real life.”
As Stair’s filmmaking skills improved, his videos took an increasingly dark turn. The goofy sketch comedies and homemade spoofs that once filled his channel gradually disappeared, replaced by melancholy short films and bleak monologues.
Kristan Newell was a co-worker of the shooter, Randy Stair, at the Weis Markets store in Eaton Township, Pennsylvania, where the mass shooting occurred on June 8, 2017. She was the only employee who survived the attack inside the store. (Christopher Dolan/MediaNews Group)
Stair’s channel had long featured recurring comedy sketches centered on a frog and a whale. In a video titled “Extinction Series Finale,” the lighthearted characters meet a violent end. Stair is shown repeatedly stabbing them with a knife.
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“It was very different from his content before,” Sammy said. “But he also seemed different as a person. He became more distant, tweeted less and became less active on social media. It almost wasn’t the same person who was making those earlier videos.”
“There was a time when he described what would be called suicidal ideation to me,” Sammy said. “But at the time, he said he never felt like he would actually act on those thoughts. Even though he talked to us a lot on social media, when it came to topics like that, he would either deflect or try to reassure us that he would never do something like that.”
Kristan Newell writes messages on balloons before releasing them in memory of the victims of the 2017 Eaton Township Weis Market shooting at Lazybrook Park in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, on June 8, 2022. (Christopher Dolan/MediaNews Group/Standard Speaker)
As the months passed, Sammy said she noticed changes in Stair’s online behavior. His social media posts became increasingly erratic.
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“At times, he would tweet things and then delete them almost immediately or a few minutes later,” Sammy said. “They were usually about his purpose in the world or how he felt lost. But he would reassure everyone that it was just a difficult moment for him and that he was OK.”
Around 2013, Stair became fixated on the character McLain, a ghost rock star from the Nickelodeon animated series. The character soon became the focus of much of Stair’s online activity. He created “Ember’s Ghost Squad,” an animated series inspired by the character, and filled his journals with writings about joining McLain and his own “Ghost Squad” characters after death.
The victims were identified as Terry Sterling, 63, Victoria Brong, 25, and Brian Hayes, 47. (Christopher Dolan/MediaNews Group/Standard Speaker)
Sammy and other friends said the fixation increasingly dominated Stair’s online identity.
“Honestly, to this day, I don’t really know why he was so drawn to that character,” Sammy said. “I think it could be something as simple as liking the character, the way she looked and her style. Or he could have felt like he related to her backstory somehow. But I really don’t know why he chose that specific character.”
Sammy said they discussed his job at Weis Markets.
“Obviously, he would say that retail isn’t the best place to work, and he didn’t want to be there forever,” Sammy said. “He encouraged me, as a younger person, not to go into retail, but those were things I’d heard all my life from my older siblings and adults. He wasn’t hateful or angry about his job. I never thought he would’ve done something like that, especially there.”
In this June 8, 2017, photo, James Daly, left, regional vice president of supermarket chain Weis Markets Inc., gives a statement to reporters as Pennsylvania State Police investigate the killings of three co-workers shot by Randy Stair, of Dallas, Pennsylvania, who also shot and killed himself, at a Weis supermarket in Tunkhannock. (Jake Danna Stevens)
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On June 8, 2017, Stair brought two pistol-grip shotguns to work during an overnight shift and blocked the store’s entrances and exits so no one could escape.
Pennsylvania State Police said Stair, 24, fired 59 shots before killing himself. He killed Terry Sterling, 63; Victoria Brong, 25; and Brian Hayes, 47. A fourth co-worker escaped unharmed and called police. Investigators said the victims were working the overnight shift when the shooting unfolded.
Although there is no indication anyone close to Stair could have predicted or prevented the attack, Sammy said she still struggles with those feelings.
In 2017, the regional supermarket chain planned a low-key reopening of the Weis Markets in Tunkhannock with no ceremony, following extensive repairs and a thorough cleaning that removed the physical traces of the mass shooting inside. (Robert Baker/The Times-Tribune via AP)
“It was devastating,” Sammy said. “I did feel guilty because I wish I had spoken up more about what I saw with him. Several times, when we were in touch, he would post something and take it down, or he would say something, and when I tried to dig deeper, he would deflect. Looking back on it now, there were signs he was in decline.”
Wyoming County District Attorney Jeff Mitchell said Stair left an online trail that included praise for the 1999 Columbine High School shooters and expressions of deep frustration with the world around him, The Associated Press reported.
Today, Sammy said her goal in sharing her story is to encourage people to speak up when someone appears to be in crisis. She hopes others will recognize changes in behavior and seek help if they are concerned about someone’s well-being.
“I think people are sometimes afraid to speak up. And we may not know where to get help. But we have to be vigilant about the world around us.”
