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Triple shooting leaves 2 dead, 1 seriously injured in Connellsville

By Alyssa Choiniere achoiniere@heraldstandard.Com 5 min read
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Alyssa Choiniere | Herald-Standard

Nicole Kinneer, 37, of Connellsville, shown here in a cellphone photo, was fatally shot in a Hill Street home Tuesday night. She was a drug and alcohol counselor at Wormack Inc. One of her clients, Andrew “Bryce” Swope, said he was very close to the woman, who was his therapist since he was a child.

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Three people were shot, two fatally, at 306 Hill St. in Connellsville, April 17. Homeowner George Rohal, 65, was seriously injured at about 8:30 p.m. Nicole Kinneer, 37, was pronounced dead at the scene and Darren Ruvo, 36, died on his way to the hospital.

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Alyssa Choiniere | Herald-Standard

Andrew “Bryce” Swope, 23, and his fiancee, Ashley Flynn, 24, of Connellsville spoke about the impact of their drug and alcohol counselor, Nicole Kinneer, 37, who was killed in a shooting on Hill Street Tuesday night.

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Alyssa Choiniere | Herald-Standard

Andrew “Bryce” Swope, 23, of Connellsville holds a picture of his longtime counselor, Nicole Kinneer, who died in a shooting on Hill Street Tuesday night.

A Connellsville couple thought it was odd when the woman who was always there for them, their drug and alcohol counselor, didn’t answer calls or texts Tuesday night.

“Normally, she’d text me back like nothing. So I thought maybe she fell asleep, or put her little boy to bed for school in the morning,” said Ashley Flynn. “But, no. That’s not what it was.”

Flynn and her fiance, Andrew “Bryce” Swope, later learned their counselor, Nicole L. Kinneer, had been shot to death at 306 Hill St. in Connellsville. The couple took a walk Tuesday night around their former Fairview Avenue home after hearing about the shooting, shortly before they sent the text. They were concerned about their former neighbor, George Rohal, who often told Swope to pick flowers from his garden for Flynn. They had no idea Kinneer, their counselor and a longtime support for Swope, was dead inside the house.

Kinneer, 37, of Connellsville was pronounced dead on the scene after the shooting at about 8:30 p.m. Rohal, 65, the homeowner, was flown to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh with serious injuries. An update on his condition was not released Wednesday. Darren K. Ruvo, 36, of Connellsville was taken to Highlands Hospital by ambulance, where he died. Connellsville Police Department is continuing its investigation in coordination with the Fayette County District Attorney’s Office, Fayette County Coroner and state police forensics unit. Investigators have not yet released information on who fired the shots, but said no one outside of the three was involved. The coroner completed autopsies Wednesday afternoon. The results of those autopsies will not be released until Thursday.

Connellsville Mayor Greg Lincoln praised the swift response from the city’s police, county district attorney’s office, coroner’s office and other first responders.

“This has sent shock waves through our small community,” Lincoln said Wednesday. “It’s not something that happens often in Connellsville.”

Kinneer was a licensed professional counselor at Wormack, Inc. in Connellsville, where she helped found the organization’s substance abuse and mental health program, according to CEO Raymond Wormack.

“She had a passion — just for wanting to help other people, and she was always willing to help someone that was in need. That’s how she was,” he said.

He described her as “kindhearted and free-spirited, an excellent colleague and a better friend.”

“She’s going to be missed by many,” he said.

Her death rocked Swope and Flynn.

“I don’t think we’d be as far as we are right now with our drug problem without her being there to talk to us and help us,” Flynn said.

Swope knew Kinneer long before he visited her for drug counseling. As a self-described “troubled child,” she visited his house two or three times each week as his Therapeutic Support Staff (TSS) worker. The 23-year-old’s eyes brightened when he talked about playing in the rain with Kinneer, jumping in puddles, going on fishing trips and taking walks with her in the park.

“We had a lot of fun together,” he said. “I was always in trouble, and she’d keep me out of trouble and keep me busy.”

He said she was always patient with him, despite his violent outbursts as a child. On one particularly bad day, he said he became aggressive toward her.

“And she still came back,” he said, his voice rising with disbelief. “She came back when she was off work to talk to me and hang out with me and find out if I was OK.”

The couple said Kinneer went far beyond the duties of a counselor. When they ran out of money, she gave them gift cards. When their federal assistance lapsed, she helped fix the problem.

“You needed her, she was there, even if she was off work,” Flynn said. “She might have had her son with her, but she was there.”

She had an 8-year-old boy. Kinneer recently made plans with the couple for a play date at the park with their 4-year-old son.

“It’s just scary knowing it could happen to anybody, especially somebody like her,” Swope said. “Nobody deserves it.”

The couple struggled to understand how the tragedy happened, saying they had no idea Kinneer knew Rohal, or was in a relationship with Ruvo. They said she never mentioned going to the Hill Street house, and always had her son with her after work.

Swope recalled texting Kinneer to confirm Flynn’s appointment Tuesday night. She answered with a smiley face. He texted again to confirm the time, and there was no response. When Flynn went to her appointment, she learned Kinneer had died, and came home to break the news to her fiance.

“It’s going to be so weird going (to counseling) knowing she isn’t there, and it’s a constant reminder too, so that’s gonna be another hard thing,” Swope said. “As soon as you walk in there, knowing that office is empty all the time, it’s gonna be hard.”

He said he has seen several drug and alcohol therapists, but none of them had the same impact as Kinneer. He could tell she truly cared, he said.

“I’m gonna keep going,” he said. “I’m not gonna stop just because something like that happened. Nicole wouldn’t like that. It’s gonna be stressful and hard,” he paused and turned to his fiancee. “You think?”

“Yeah,” Flynn answered. “But we can do it.”

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