Mark Steven Wirth, a 67-year-old White male, died on May 6, 2024, after a shooting at the Heavner Acres Trailer Court in Elkins, West Virginia. Officers were called that afternoon for a reported shooting; responders found Wirth on a porch with a gunshot wound to the head and he later died at Davis Medical Center. A small knife was reported nearby as officers tried to render aid.

Authorities described the shooting as the result of a dispute between neighbors. Investigators identified Melvin Richard Phillips Jr. as the man accused of the shooting. Phillips was arrested shortly after the incident and charged with murder and use or presentation of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Early accounts say Phillips admitted to firing but claimed Wirth had threatened him with a knife; a witness told police Wirth had threatened or harassed a trailer park resident and Phillips said he would handle it himself before returning with a firearm.

The case raised central questions about whether the knife justified deadly force and how the encounter escalated from a neighborhood confrontation to a fatal shooting. If anyone has information about the incident or knew Wirth, please come forward.