Coroner’s Office: Woman shot in West Centre shooting dies
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Investigators from Shenandoah Police and the Pennsylvania State Police gather outside 307 West Centre Street on July 3, 2025.
SHENANDOAH – The woman flown to a Montour County hospital after Thursday morning’s shooting on the west end has died, the Montour County Coroner’s Office said Monday afternoon.
Harley Reese, 31, was identified as the victim. The Montour County Coroner’s Office said she had been shot in the head and was declared brain dead just before 4pm at Geisinger Medical Center on Friday.
She was one of three people shot in a row home at 307 West Centre Street early Thursday morning.
READ MORE >> HOW YOU CAN HELP: Basket raffle planning underway for victims of Shenandoah tragedy
Shenandoah Police and agencies from the surrounding Mahanoy Valley responded to the home around 1am.
“Shenandoah PD received a phone call [around 1am] from a female relating that she got a text message stating that ‘Everyone inside of 307 West Centre Street, Shenandoah is dead,” Trooper Ethan Brownback, Troop L Public Information Officer, told the Sentinel at the scene early Thursday. “Once inside, a younger juvenile male related ‘I need help’ and ‘Dad shot mom and granddad.'”
Officers found one man, identified as Thomas Chernewski, 63, dead on the downstairs couch and heard a gunshot upstairs.
On the second floor, officers found Reese in critical condition and another man, identified as Kevin Gordon, 40, dead. Reese was rushed to the Shenandoah helipad and flown to Geisinger Medical Center.
The State Police Major Case Team was activated and responded. West Centre Street, a main thoroughfare in town, was closed until midday.
An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday in the Lehigh Valley, the Montour County Coroner’s Office said.
Thursday’s shooting was the first homicide in Shenandoah in nearly five years.
A basket raffle is being organized for the benefit of the Chernewski family. It is scheduled for August 3 in Mahanoy City.
Heather O’Connell, of Shenandoah Heights, a cousin of the family, is organizing the effort and is seeking donations of baskets, gift cards, or gift certificates. All proceeds, she said, go to the family.
If you’re interested in donating, reach out to Heather on Facebook or reach out to the Sentinel via any contact method — social media, our email at [email protected], or the contact form — and we will pass word along.
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What’s the point of an autopsy in this open and shut case when the cause and manner of death are already known, i.e. homicide by gunshot wound to the head – and the shooter is dead so there is nobody to prosecute? How is this in the public interest? It’s not. This is a pointless and unnecessary waste of taxpayers’ money and a pointless and unnecessary mutilation of the decedent. This coroner has abused his discretion.