On the evening of July 2, 1977, 54-year-old Wilbur Ernest Brookens responded to a deliberately set cabin fire near Fayetteville, Pennsylvania. As he and volunteer firefighters arrived, someone hidden nearby opened fire. Brookens was fatally shot; James W. Cutchall, the Fayetteville Volunteer Fire Department Chief, was also killed and several other firefighters were wounded.

Authorities identified 23-year-old Gary Rock, an ex-Marine, as the shooter. Rock had set his own home on fire and then waited in hiding for first responders. After the ambush he fled into nearby woods and was captured following a standoff in which he reportedly held a rifle to his own head before being shot and subdued. Neighbors said Rock kept a large cache of weapons and ammunition at his cabin.

Rock was charged with two counts of criminal homicide, seven counts of attempted murder, and one count of arson. A 1978 jury found him guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder and sentenced him to two concurrent life terms; that conviction was later overturned for ineffective assistance of counsel. A 1985 retrial again produced guilty verdicts on two counts of first-degree murder and multiple counts of attempted murder and aggravated assault, and he continued to pursue appeals and petitions that were ultimately unsuccessful, leaving a life sentence for the killings.