A drug transaction that turned sour ended in a deadly shooting in Altoona on July 26, 2018. Fifty-eight-year-old David Alan Hoover was chased through city streets after discovering a setup during an attempted cocaine purchase. The pursuit ended in the parking lot of Bethany Lutheran Church, where Hoover reportedly left his vehicle armed with a baseball bat.

From his car, John Patrick Stiver II fired a single shotgun blast that struck Hoover in the neck and severed a carotid artery. Bystanders and a nurse at a nearby park event tried to render aid, but Hoover’s wound was fatal and Stiver fled the scene. Police later located and arrested Stiver in a rural area of Homers Gap, and he was charged with Hoover’s murder.

Key questions remain for readers: did anyone witness the chase or the moments before the shooting at the church parking lot who has not yet come forward?