Man’s shooting spree leaves South Carolina mother dead at gas station, Ohio cops say
A woman in the process of moving from South Carolina to Ohio was fatally shot in an attempted carjacking at a gas station, cops say.
The death of Meagan Kennedy Stanford on Sunday, Feb. 26, in a northern suburb of Columbus was part of a shooting spree carried out by Keith Moser, the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Moser is believed to have tried to steal a car off an Interstate 71 exit ramp, leading to him firing shots at the vehicle, authorities said.
He then went to a Shell gas station, where he is accused of trying to steal a minivan as Stanford was pumping gas. Stanford, of Greenville, South Carolina, was shot and killed by the attempted carjacker, authorities said.
Moser turned and shot at a U-Haul van, but the male driver of the U-Haul returned fire, hitting him, the sheriff’s office said.
Moser, of Columbus, died at the scene after being shot multiple times, according to the sheriff.
Stanford, a 39-year-old mother of four and a grandma, was moving to Ohio “to come build a home with her three younger boys and her husband,” a family friend told WSPA.
Another friend said in a Facebook post that Stanford was excited for her move and had “so many plans and goals.”
Her three sons and husband witnessed the shooting.
“My 11-year-old brother called me, in the midst of the panic, and I knew,” Stanford’s daughter, Alexia Vasquez, told WSPA. “I knew what was happening the whole time I was on the phone.”
Loved ones remembered Stanford as “such a beautiful soul” who was “loved by so many.”
“A room was never dark when you were present,” Mandi Shaw said in a Facebook post. “You left a little bit of sparkle and glitter behind wherever you were.”
Shortly before the fatal shooting, Moser was involved in several incidents in Columbus, according to media reports.
He is accused of stealing an unoccupied Chevy from a gas station, then abandoning it eight minutes later to steal a BMW, the Mansfield News Journal reported.
About ten minutes later, Moser reportedly fired shots in an attempted robbery of a food delivery driver, according to WCMH.
No injuries were reported in any of the Columbus incidents.
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