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Mysterious incident on I-70 leaves 1 dead
Sunday, January 09, 2000 By Bill Heltzel, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
State police in Washington are looking for witnesses to a shooting early Saturday morning in which a passenger in a car was apparently shot and killed by another motorist on Interstate 70.
The victim was identified as Anthony Stephen Wargo, 24, of Richeyville, Washington County.
"We're still trying to figure out what went down," said Trooper Diana Grady. Details of the shooting are based entirely on one witness, the driver of the car in which Wargo was riding. Police were interviewing him yesterday.
"It's still undetermined what occurred," Grady said. "Why things escalated is still under investigation. It's all coming from the driver."
The driver was John Thomas Swoger, 20, of Richeyville, whom police described as Wargo's friend.
Grady said the shooting happened around 12:15 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of I-70, between the Beau Street exit in South Strabane and Interstate 79.
Swoger told police that a Chevrolet Blazer was tailgating him in the right lane. Swoger switched to the left lane to pass a truck, and the Blazer moved up alongside him.
The driver of the Blazer opened his window, fired two shots in the air with a handgun, then shot into Swoger's car.
A bullet struck Wargo in the neck.
Swoger drove to the Toot 'N Scoot BP gas station at Route 519 for help. Wargo was taken to Washington Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:29 a.m.
Swoger last saw the Blazer traveling east on I-70 or south on I-79.
He described the driver as a white male, late 20s to early 30s, with a mustache and beard, and hair possibly pulled back in a ponytail.
He was driving a late model, dark green Blazer with black windows.
Grady said investigators are not treating the killing as a case of "road rage." "We're focusing on criminal homicide and attempted criminal homicide," she said.
She was unable to say if investigators have found the exact location of the shooting, or if there were any other actions between the shooter and the victim. She would not discuss specific evidence, such as where Wargo and Swoger were coming from or going to, or whether Swoger's passenger side window was open or closed during the shooting.
Swoger's blue 1990 Plymouth coupe was impounded and will be thoroughly searched, Grady said.
She said anyone who was on the highway near exit 8 (Beau Street) around 12:15 a.m. and saw the Blazer or Swoger's car should call police at 724-223-5200.
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