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By JAMES D. SNEDDON Daily Times City Editor For almost a decade, the law shielded Sylvia Seegrist, preventing her parents and police from permanently placing her in an institution. Today, a 2-year-old child is dead. A 5 . A Springfield physician is in critical condition, ging on to life by a thread. Seven shot, and hospitalized, will remember for the rest of their lives the terror Wednesday afternoon when a woman toting a semi-automatic, .22- caliber rifle opened fire at the Springfield Sylvia is behind bars today, charged with counts of murder. For years, however, Sylvia has been exhibiting the danger signs which told her parents, minister, friends and neighbors that he was seriously ill, but no one could do anything about it because the law states you can't commit someone into a psychiatric hospital unless there's a violent incident. As late as Tuesday night, according to reports, Seegrist’s mother Ruth had pleaded with Sylvia to commit herself to a psychiatric hospital. Sylvia Soumiot is the daughter Seegrist is the daughter of and Donald Seegrist of 258 lewis Springfield. Donald is a research statisti cian for the U.S. Forest Service in Broomall. Ruth is a freelance writer who has, penned articles for the Springfield Press, including a series last summer on: how it was to have people with mental’ pole institu tionalized It was a decade ago when Sylvia’s that decade she's about. _at Springfield High School. Following that, Sylvia enrolled became a student at Delaware Community College. The letin and whan she was a patient Dot contrered according to enn. from Tri-County Fountain arate omento be placed in an ARD program. She was placed on probation and sent to Haverford On Pearl Harbor Day, Dec. 7, 1983, Sylvia began basic training in the Army at Fort Jackson, S.C. But less than two months later, Feb. 2, 1984 she was dis charged. Pentagon officials yesterday said they had no record of any trouble involving Seegrist and the discharge was “by mutual agreement.” Sometime later in ’84 she moved in with friends in a one-story cottage in the 500 block of Walnut Lane, Swarthmore. Friends said she could look from the house and see the front entrance of the Spr ingfield Mall, the scene of Wednesday's shooting spree. Proving that a period she frequently agitated and became more radial, fiends Piriamen aamieeeee the point where she was asked to leave because of her violent behavior, neighbors said. She moved to an apartment in Crum Lynne. inniheagaeccb was lived by herself can live with her.” Vantucke i becnenel copesied $0 mane Geigl in the central ones of the county that the woman they had encountered babbling to herself in stores was Sylvia ported by her parents, to friends, she frequently vis ited the Springfield Numerous reports surfaced that Sylvia had made various other violence to police, but they could not be confirmed. Last night, a Kmart spokesperson said she had applied for a rifle in February or organata agl pranscharg ed police were contacted, once me ta ke coe the woman. Sylvia, however, was able to obtain a weapon sometime in the last six months at the BEST store in the Springfield eee Center, according to Whether she bought the rifle as part of someone she was hatching in her troubled mind, no one could answer yesterday, but her mother said she was acting “terribly psychotic’ lately. “She's completely out of touch with eee Ruth Seegrist said. “If you ask q She'll start talking about negative energy, nuclear weapons and whatever comes to When her apartment was searched yesterday, police found numerous newspaper on Wednesday she was seen at various locations. About 1:30 p.m. she was at the Living Well Fitness Center, a spa where she held membership. An eyewitness said she was eee hastaiad when aetals. Sometime after 2 p.m. she was in the Swarthmore Public Library. meee Perse Sylvia was a customer at Partyland in the Brookhaven Shopping An employee of the store said she an odd assortment of items. — ad We cava aaie olly. Among the many erroneous reports that surfaced following the shooting was one that she sought to have a prescription filled at the Rite Aid drug store sometime that afternoon in the Springfield Mall and had been refused. Store officials denied that yester they many viei to bo the store but she hadn't been in Wednesday. When she was wrestled to the ground at the mall, ending her two-minute shooting spree, she was walking toward the Rite Aid store plode.”
Newspaper Details
Delaware County Daily Times
Chester, Pennsylvania, US
Fri, Nov 01, 1985
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Ellen Y.
USA 13 Jun 2026
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