Alleged Murderer Dead After Six-Hour Standoff

A is over.

Mark Richard Geisenheyner, a suspect in the , is dead after a six-hour standoff with police in Trainer, Delaware County.

A short time ago, Montgomery County First Assistant District Attorney Kevin Steele confirmed that the Delaware County medical examiner declared Geisenheyner dead today.

Police began a hunt for a suspect after finding five people had been shot at a residence at 50 Renninger Road in Gilbertsville, Douglass Township around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Yesterday, Steele, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and Douglass Township Police Chief Barry L. Templin Jr. identified the victims in Saturday's shooting as Paul Shay and his wife Monica, Joseph Shay, Kathryn Erdmann and her son, Gregory.

Joseph Shay, 43, of Yarmouth, MA, and New York, NY, and Gregory, 2, were shot in the head and killed. 

Kathryn Erdmann, 37, of Fall River, MA, was also shot in the head, as were the Renninger Road house owners Paul Shay, 64, and Monica Shay, 58, of New York, NY

Roughly 40 police officers from about 10 area departments including Limerick, Lower Pottsgrove and Boyertown gathered Saturday night on Hoffmansville Road near the scene of the shooting.

Emergency medical crews from companies including Gilbertsville Fire and Rescue and Upper Perkiomen Valley Ambulance were also on hand.

A police helicopter circled the area around Sterner Road while lights from emergency vehicles colored the handful of houses and a church in the quiet rural community.

The area -- which includes farm pastures, dense woods, outbuildings, a creek and pond -- would provide a good hiding place for someone, especially in the dark, said Dennis Meitzler, a Salvation Army volunteer who served sandwiches and drinks to emergency crews.

“I used to hunt all this,” Meitzler said of growing up in the area and hunting for deer and small game.

The hunt grew in manpower and search territory.

Early Sunday morning, police gathered inside the Douglass Township building while more forces -- including a Pottstown K-9 unit and the Chester-Montgomery County Emergency Response Team -- arrived. 

Police, armed with a variety of weapons, piled into an armored vehicle and headed toward the crime scene.

The manhunt continued through Monday.

Around 2 p.m., Steele confirmed the suspect, Geisenheyner, is dead.

"Early this morning SWAT units from Delaware County surrounded a home in Trainer," Steele said in a release. "Contact was made with Geisenheyner. It was learned that he was armed and would not surrender."

After an approximately six-hour standoff, SWAT units entered the residence. 

The Delaware County Medical Examiner later declared Geisenheyner, located in the basement of the house, dead, the release states.

Monica Shay remains hospitalized in critical condition.

"Despite their extensive injuries, (Erdmann) and (Paul Shay) were able to speak to investigators," Steele said via the release. "Both are expected to survive."

The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office conducted autopsies on Joseph Shay and Gregory and concluded both victims died of gunshot wounds to the head.

"The manner of death was ruled a homicide," the release states.