All schools in Upshur County will close at 1 p.m. today. All B-UHS sporting events today are canceled.

WVWC grad among those killed in Pittsburgh shooting

BUCKHANNON — A 1969 graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College was among the 11 people killed inside a Squirrel Hill synagogue on Saturday.

“We are very sad to share the news that Daniel Stein ’69 was one of the victims of the horrific mass shooting in Pittsburgh yesterday,” the school said in a statement release on social media. “Daniel was a wonderful human being and a great Wesleyan alum. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family as well as the families of other victims.”

Bob Skinner, the college’s vice president for advancement, called Stein “wonderful human being and a loyal alum.”

“The Pittsburgh shooting is a heartbreaking story,” Skinner wrote on Facebook. “It also hits home as Daniel Stein, a 1969 graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College, was one of the 11 victims of the senseless act of violence. Daniel was a wonderful human being and a loyal alum. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and to the families of the other victims of this tragedy.”

Stein’s son, Joe, posted a heartbreaking photo to Facebook of Daniel holding his 7-month old grandson.

Daniel Stein
Tree of Life shooting victim Daniel Stein holding his grandson.

“Yesterday was the worst day of my life,” Joe Stein wrote alongside the photo. “My dad’s life was taken at the Tree of Life shooting. My mom, sister and I are absolutely devastated and crushed! Our lives now are going to have to take a different path, one that we thought would not happen for a long time.”

“My dad was a simple man and did not require much. In the picture below he was having a great day doing two things he loved very much. He had just finished coming from synagogue, which he loved, and then got to play with his grandson which he loved even more! We love you dad more than you’ll ever know!”

Stein’s nephew remembered his uncle as an well-liked man with a dry sense of humor.

“He was always willing to help anybody,” Steven Halle told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “He was somebody that everybody liked, very dry sense of humor and recently had a grandson who loved him.

“This is going to be a horrible loss for the baby, growing up without a grandfather,” said Halle, 55, of Pittsburgh’s Regent Square neighborhood. “We’re still trying to get everything together with my aunt and my cousins. It’s really hard right now.”

“I think everybody was in a fog today,” he added. “Everybody and their families are going to pull together and get through this. It’s a tragedy.”

Others also recalled Stein’s giving attitude.

“You call on him for a tough task, and he’ll do it without looking for any kind of pat on the back or plaque or anything,” Barton Schachter, a past president of Tree of Life and former executive for the Jewish Community Center, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “He had this phenomenal ability to smile. He could make the situation light and happy.”

According to the Washington Post, Stein was a member of the New Light Congregation, one of three congregations that held services in the same building as Tree of Life. He had served as president and on the board of directors of the synagogue and most recently was president of the Men’s Club.

Federal authorities say Robert D. Bowers, 46, killed eight men and three women inside the Tree of Life Synagogue Saturday. He faces 29 federal charges, including 11 counts of obstructing the exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death.

Bowers told a SWAT operator while receiving medical treatment that he wanted “all Jews to die, according to the criminal complaint. He regularly posted anti-Semitic threats and conspiracy theories online.

“It’s a very horrific crime scene,” Wendell Hissrich, Pittsburgh’s public safety director, told reporters Sunday. “It’s one of the worst that I’ve seen, and I’ve been on some plane crashes. It’s very bad.”

Bowers was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and at least three handguns, Robert Jones of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office said Saturday.

Officers were sent to the shooting scene one minute after receiving the call at 9:45 a.m. Saturday. Bowers spent 20 minutes inside the synagogue before police arrived, FBI Special Agent Robert Jones said.

When Bowers tried to leave, two police officers confronted him and they exchanged gunfire before Bowers retreated back into the building. Both officers were wounded.

Additional officers entered the building and again exchange gunfire with Bowers, with both the suspect and another officer being injured. Bowers eventually surrendered.

The 11 killed were:

  • Joyce Fienberg, 75, of Oakland, City of Pittsburgh
  • Richard Gottfried, 65, of Ross Township
  • Rose Mallinger, 97, of Squirrel Hill, City of Pittsburgh
  • Jerry Rabinowitz, 66, of Edgewood Borough
  • Cecil Rosenthal, 59, of Squirrel Hill, City of Pittsburgh
  • David Rosenthal, 54, (brother of Cecil), of Squirrel Hill
  • Bernice Simon, 84, of Wilkinsburg
  • Sylvan Simon, 86, (husband of Bernice), of Wilkinsburg
  • Daniel Stein, 71, of Squirrel Hill, City of Pittsburgh
  • Melvin Wax, 88, of Squirrel Hill, City of Pittsburgh
  • Irving Younger, 69, of Mt. Washington, City of Pittsburgh

 

Share this story:

Local Businesses

RECENT Stories

Buckhannon Banter: Get the local lowdown for July 2, 2025

This week in Buckhannon, local organizations plan events and clinics — including a big July 4th celebration — and several community initiatives aim to engage residents of all ages.

Emergency agencies stress need for coordinated incident plans during large events with road closures

Emergency officials emphasized the need for incident action plans and coordination with public safety agencies for large events that close major streets, citing upcoming car shows and other street-closure events to ensure fast, safe emergency responses.
BUHS Sports

B-U now in Class AAAA in all sports; moved to new South Region after WVSSAC restructuring

Buckhannon-Upshur High School will compete in Class AAAA — the highest division — for all sports and has been moved to the new South Region under a two-year realignment by the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission.

Stockert Youth and Community Center Board Meeting Agenda: July 3, 2025

The Stockert Youth and Community Center Board will meet July 3, 2025, with an agenda set to discuss organizational matters and upcoming events.

Buckhannon Waste Board Agenda: July 3, 2025

The City of Buckhannon Waste Collection Board has released the agenda for its upcoming meeting on July 3, 2025.

Woman arrested on six felony charges after allegedly shooting at a man in Upshur County

Jocelyn M. Krum, 28, of Charleston, was arrested on six felony charges after allegedly entering a Mt. Lebanon Road residence in Upshur County with a rifle and shooting at a man before fleeing the scene.

Buckhannon man sentenced to 11 to 21 years for Bailey Ridge Road shootout

Austin W. Arbogast, 26, was sentenced to 11 to 21 years in prison after pleading guilty to four felony charges stemming from a March 2024 shootout on Bailey Ridge Road while attempting to retrieve his child.

Mountain East Conference extends invitation to Shawnee State University

The Mountain East Conference has approved Shawnee State University as its 12th full-time member, with the school set to join in 2026 pending NCAA Division II acceptance and expanding league competition in 19 sports.
Davis and Elkins College

Davis & Elkins College students recognized for high academic honors for Spring 2025 semester

Davis & Elkins College has announced the Spring 2025 president’s list, for students earning 4.0 GPAs, and dean’s list, for those earning 3.6 to 3.99, honoring academic excellence campus-wide.