East Pennsboro Township, PA: York woman fatally shot ex-girlfriend, then killed herself

A York woman committed suicide after fatally shooting her estranged girlfriend in the victim's Cumberland County home on Sunday.

Melissa Harris, 43, went to the East Pennsboro Township home of former girlfriend Lisa Goss, 46, in the 700 block of Sterling Court about noon on Sunday, according to East Pennsboro Township Detective Sgt. Michael Cotton.

"(Harris) was moving out some items of hers that were still there," Cotton said. "An argument started up about a half-hour into it."

Harris fatally shot Goss, the detective said, and Goss' 17-year-old son was in his bedroom at the time.

"The son heard the argument, then heard a loud bang," Cotton said, at which point the teen opened his bedroom door.

"He was face-to-face with the shooter," Cotton said. "The shooter fired one round at him, but missed."

The teen locked himself in the room and called 911, then heard a third shot, according to the detective.

When police arrived, they found Goss and Harris dead on the first floor of the home at the base of the stairs, Cotton said.

"(The son) was not injured, though he was obviously very emotionally distraught," Cotton said.

Cotton said Harris lived with Goss until they broke up about two months ago, which is when Harris moved to York.

Cumberland County Coroner Todd Eckenrode said officials are trying to track down Harris' address in York. She had been staying at three to four different houses in the area, he said.

"I don't think she really had any permanent address right now," Eckenrode said. "She has been, from what I was told, kind of jumping around."

Eckenrode said each woman died of a single gunshot wound to the head.

Licensed to carry: Harris had a license to carry a firearm in Cumberland County and owned a .38-caliber pistol, according to the detective, who said Harris used a .38-caliber handgun Sunday to kill Goss and herself.

Dolores Ehrhart-Haney, who worked with Harris at Swanson Health Products in Harrisburg, said she and her co-workers were "speechless" when they learned of the shooting.

"All I will say is it is a tragic loss all around and Melissa is not a monster, she had such a good heart and none of this makes sense to any of us," she said.

Anyone with information about Harris can call Cotton at 238-9676.