By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
EAST VILLAGE — A vigil will be held Tuesday outside the East 10th Street home of a couple critically wounded in a mass shooting in Pennsylvania over the weekend.
Paul and Monica Shay were both shot, and their nephew and his 2-year-old son killed, inside the family's Bechtelsville, Pa., home Saturday by a gunman who was later killed in a standoff with police.
An online note announcing the vigil called the Shays "veteran activists" who were involved with various causes both locally and nationwide.
Neighbors said Paul Shay helped get ex-cons back on their feet by employing them at his plumbing company. Monica Shay is an associate professor at the Pratt Institute.
She is reportedly still fighting for her life, while her husband is recovering after surgery.
The gunman suspected of the mass shooting — who allegedly killed the couple's nephew, Joseph Shay, and critically injured his girlfriend, Kathryn Erdmann — was shot to death by a Pennsylvania SWAT team following a six-hour standoff in southeastern Pennsylvania early Monday, authorities said.
Gunman Mark Richard Geisenheyner was reportedly angry with Paul Shay for not receiving money as part of an insurance scam the two were involved in.
He allegedly spoke of getting revenge on Paul Shay and cased the family's Pennsylvania home for three months prior to the shooting, according to reports.
The vigil will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, outside the Shays' home at 263 E. 10th St., between First Avenue and Avenue A.
