Hetzel Union Building shooting
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The Hetzel Union Building shooting refers to an incident at the Pennsylvania State University where two students were shot, one fatally. At the time of the incident, it was the first murder on the Penn State campus in over 25 years.
[edit] The incident
On the morning of Tuesday, September 17, 1996, Jillian Robbins, a 19-year old native of State College, Pennsylvania, armed with a 7 mm Mauser rifle, hid herself in a large group of bushes outside Penn State's Hetzel Union Building (HUB). Shooting in the prone position, Robbins fired 5 shots at passers-by. 21-year old nursing student Melanie Spalla was killed, and 20-year old Nicholas Mensah was wounded in the abdomen. Two students, Kerry Butler and William Mocker, later reported finding damage to their backpacks where bullets had grazed them.
Class of 1997 graduate Brendon Malovrh discovered Robbins and disarmed the woman as she attempted to reload the rifle. Robbins attempted to stab Malovrh, but missed and wounded herself in the thigh. Malovrh stayed with Robbins, treating her leg wound, until police arrived.
One of the fired rounds was found resting on an outdoor windowsill at St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 109 McAllister Street, and another on the eighth floor of Penn Tower Apartments, near the intersection of McAllister Street and Beaver Avenue.
[edit] Legal outcome
News reports at the time of the incident did not provide a clear indication of motivation for the shootings. Robbins pled guilty to one count of third degree murder (in the case of Spalla) and four counts of attempted murder (in the cases of Mensah, Malovrh, Butler, and Mocker). She is currently serving 30 to 60 years at the State Correctional Institute at Muncy.
