KNOX TOWNSHIP Prosecutor outlines shooting

The shooter encountered his wife's friend and neighbor first and opened fire on her, authorities said.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
ALLIANCE -- The estranged wife of a man suspected in a weekend shooting death is lucky to be alive, said Columbiana County Prosecutor Robert Herron.
Angela Doak, 39, fled out the back door of her mobile home while her husband, Gregory Doak, 44, fired a rifle as he barged through the front door about 6 p.m. Sunday, Herron said Monday.
Opened fire: Although Mrs. Doak escaped, her friend and neighbor, Teresa Stoffer, 42, did not.
When Doak arrived at the mobile home in his pickup truck -- armed with a .223-caliber, semiautomatic rifle equipped with a 30-round magazine -- he first encountered Stoffer outside her trailer.
Doak opened fire and left Stoffer fatally wounded before proceeding to his wife's trailer, Herron said.
Stoffer was later pronounced dead at the scene. She was struck with multiple shots. An autopsy is being conducted, Herron said.
Doak and Stoffer knew each other, Herron said, but he offered no motive for her being shot.
Doak's wife fled the mobile home park, located in Knox Township along U.S. Route 62, on foot. She was soon given a ride to the Sebring Police Department by acquaintances, Herron related.
Meanwhile, law enforcement officers from the Columbiana County Sheriff's Department, Alliance Police Department and other agencies converged on the park.
Police response: Members of the Alliance Police Department's special-response team stormed Angela Doak's trailer without incident and without discharging their firearms.
They found Doak on a couch in the living room with multiple gunshot wounds that police believe were self-inflicted with the rifle.
It's unclear when Doak shot himself. He was in serious condition Monday in the intensive care unit at Akron City Hospital, where a report on his condition was not available this morning.
Doak expended about 25 bullets from the rifle during the episode.
Doak and Stoffer were the only ones shot. But bullets struck at least three other residents' trailers, Herron said.
Domestic strife: Authorities said domestic strife between Doak and his estranged wife prompted the shooting.
The couple was getting a divorce, Herron said. But he declined to comment further.
Angela Doak moved to the mobile home park in mid-March.
On March 17, Gregory Doak was arrested by county deputy sheriffs after Stoffer complained that he showed up at her trailer about 2:21 a.m., demanding to see his wife, who was staying there.
Doak appeared in county municipal court in Salem on March 21, when he pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor. Judge Robert Roberts found him guilty. Doak received a suspended 10-day jail sentence, was fined $50 and ordered to perform 10 hours of community service.
He was also placed onone year of probation, with the condition that he have no contact with his wife.
On Friday, the sheriff's department served Doak with a restraining order obtained by his wife through county common pleas court. The order banned Doak from being within 100 yards of her.
The couple had at least three children, whom Doak had left with relatives at his home before going to the trailer park Sunday, Herron said. They were not harmed.
Authorities are still investigating. It may be midweek before charges are filed, Herron said.