By Debra Palmieri

dpalmieri@tnonline.com

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin has just released new details regarding the April 21 shootings at the Wawa, Schantz Road and Route 100, Upper Macungie Township.

The first known incident occurred when a woman driving her car on Route 22 westbound had an encounter with another vehicle later determined to have been driven by Za Uk Lian of South Whitehall Township.

According to Martin, in an April 28 news release, the woman told police she was driving to work in the left-hand lane of Route 22 at a speed of approximately 70 mph when Lian’s car, a white Toyota Corolla, approached her from behind at a high rate of speed.

Lian then pulled into the right lane and matched her speed as the woman heard a loud noise.

Lian’s car then pulled ahead of her and she continued to the Wawa at the southeast corner of Route 100 and Schantz Road, Martin said.

Martin said the woman, who was not injured, said as she left the store, she noticed what appeared to be damage from a gunshot on the passenger side door of her vehicle.

“Further investigation revealed that the woman’s arrival at the Wawa and Lian’s arrival were coincidental and Lian did not arrive at the store until a short time after the woman had already left and continued onto her place of work,” Martin said.

The woman photographed the damage to her car door and was advised by friends that it looked like a bullet hole and she should report it to police. “She did so and the Pennsylvania State police, aware of the shootings at Wawa, connected the two incidents,” Martin said.

According to Martin, Wawa video surveillance showed Lian arriving at the store from the northbound direction of Route 100 and gunshots reported minutes later at 4:48 a.m.

The video also shows Lian driving up next to a parked Jeep and shooting the driver, without any interaction between them before the shooting. Martin says that man’s condition has been upgraded to critical.

Lian then shot and killed Ramon Ramirez, 31, of Allentown, as Ramirez was pumping gas into a truck tractor.

“There was no interaction between them before the shooting,” Martin said.

That video also shows Lian accosted three other individuals while in the Wawa parking area:

Lian pointed the gun at a group of people, whose identities are unknown, who were standing outside a parked vehicle.

He then confronted the driver of a parked F150 pickup and demanded the keys.

The driver, who Martin said has been interviewed by police, told Lian the keys were inside.

Officers were arriving nearly simultaneously and Lian fled on foot.

A third individual, who has been interviewed by police, was also accosted by Lian who demanded his vehicle at gunpoint.

“However, more police were arriving and Lian ran toward a shed near a fence, crawled under the fence and proceeded about a quarter-mile to a day care center and in a wooded area, shot himself.

Background provided by Martin states Lian arrived in the U.S. in 2013 and settled in Washington state before arriving in the Lehigh Valley about two years ago.

He was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2019. The gun used by Lian had been purchased legally and Lian had applied for and received a concealed carry permit in Lehigh County.

Employed at a Home Depot warehouse near the Wawa, he last worked there on April 9 and was reportedly positive for COVID-19 as of April 12.

“Lian’s motive remains unknown as well as his whereabouts before the incident began,” Martin said. “Lian’s cellphone was left behind at his residence and neither it nor another electronic device recovered has revealed any evidence about these crimes, or a motive.”

Martin credits the prompt and tremendous response of various law enforcement agencies to this incident with likely saving lives. The responding agencies included: Upper Macungie Township Police, Pennsylvania State Police, Lehigh County Homicide Task Force and Municipal Emergency Response Team, Salisbury Township Police, Emmaus Police and South Whitehall Township Police.