'I'm glad he had a gun': Neighbors thinking of Abbottstown couple attacked by naked intruder
One day after a homeowner fatally shot an intruder who assaulted him and his wife, residents along Green Springs Road near Abbottstown are reeling from the attack in their quiet neighborhood.
"I never did think anything like this would happen," neighbor Roy Reed said.
State police say 54-year-old Steven David Shaffer, who lived on Green Springs Road, entered an elderly couple's home on the same street and assaulted them. The husband fatally shot Shaffer during the attack.
The wife suffered critical injuries, and a helicopter flew her to York Hospital for treatment. Her husband was taken by ambulance to the same medical facility. State police did not have an update Thursday on their conditions and have not released their names.
Reed, who has lived in the neighborhood for 35 years, said he knows both the victims and Shaffer. The couple enjoys riding bicycles, and he'd see them go up and down the road.
Shaffer has done work for him, Reed said. He needed a door put on a trailer, and Shaffer did it.
"He seemed like a decent guy," he said.
Before the attack, state police received numerous calls saying that a man was acting erratically the 800 block of Green Springs Road in Berwick Township. He was trying to enter a home and was banging on cars on the rural road, forcing traffic to stop.
While troopers were responding to the scene, Shaffer, who was wearing only a shirt, entered the couple's home in the 900 block of Green Springs Road and started assaulting the husband.
The husband told his wife to retrieve a gun from the bedroom. Shaffer followed and attacked her. The husband managed to get the revolver and shot Shaffer, who died at the scene.
Property records show Shaffer lived in the same block as the couple. However, state police said the victims did not know him.
Reed said he hasn't heard an update on how his neighbors are doing.
"I just hope they're alright," he said.
Another neighbor who also said she knew both the victims and Shaffer declined to comment.
State police did not have any new details Thursday on the ongoing investigation into the attack and shooting.
Terry Bankert, who lives farther down the road, described it as a quiet neighborhood and said many of the residents keep to themselves. In the 10 years he's lived there, this is the first incident he's aware of.
It's a shame, he said, that residents have to lock their doors while they are at home.
And Bankert feels sorry for the couple who was beaten. With an older person, he said, it only takes one punch.
"I'm glad he had a gun," he said. "He did the right thing."
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Neighbors thinking of Abbottstown couple attacked by naked intruder
