On the evening of New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2025, 47-year-old James D. Thomas of Bradenville, near Greensburg, Pennsylvania, was fatally shot at a residence on Hugh Street in Hempfield Township. Thomas had gone to the home of Emily Naugle for what was described as a first date and had brought Chinese food. While Thomas was eating, Emily’s estranged husband, 30-year-old Robert D. Naugle Jr., entered the basement using a key and fired about 10 times with a Glock 19, striking Thomas in the torso.

All four of the Naugles’ children were in the house during the shooting, including one child in a crib in the same room where the incident occurred. Afterward, Robert Naugle checked Thomas’s pulse, called 911 and told the dispatcher he had walked in on his wife with another man and that he had killed him. The Westmoreland County Coroner pronounced Thomas dead at the scene. Naugle was taken into custody, charged with criminal homicide and held without bail; a preliminary hearing was scheduled for January 14.

Thomas was a past president and then-vice president of the Derry Township Volunteer Fire Department in Bradenville and is survived by a son. Does anyone have information about Thomas, the family, or the events that evening that could help clarify what happened?