The shooting outside Oaks Auto & Truck Service left Christopher Ashbaugh dead and Niko Hostler facing homicide charges.
SPRINGDALE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The first signs of trouble came from the street: raised voices outside a towing company, a pause, more yelling and then several sharp pops that sent a neighbor to call 911.
The gunfire Wednesday outside Oaks Auto & Truck Service killed Christopher Ashbaugh and turned a workday dispute into a homicide case. Police charged Niko Hostler, 32, of Verona, and said the fight began after Ashbaugh, his manager, sent him out on another tow call near the end of his shift. The shooting drew county detectives, shocked nearby residents and court filings that now frame the case.
Amanda Mattern, who lives near the business, said she heard two men arguing before the shooting. At first, she thought the dispute might have ended. Then the voices rose again. “I heard them not talk, so I thought maybe they resolved it, then I heard them again, arguing, yelling, and then I heard ‘pop pop pop pop’ like five times,” Mattern said. After the shots, she heard Ashbaugh calling for help from the ground. Mattern said she called police and remained shaken by what she saw. Her account became one of the clearest public descriptions of the moments outside the business before officers arrived.
The block where the shooting happened is not a distant industrial strip. It is part of a small Allegheny County community where homes sit close to garages and local businesses. Residents could see the aftermath, including police activity and the area where Ashbaugh fell. Jen Neumann, another neighbor, described standing near a bloodstain the next morning and struggling to square the violence with the street she knew. “It’s quiet here,” Neumann said. “Nothing happens.” The scene gave the case a wider reach than the two men involved. It made the death visible to people who were finishing ordinary routines at home as the workday ended nearby.
Investigators said the dispute began inside the work relationship. Hostler told Allegheny County detectives that Ashbaugh was his manager at Oaks Auto & Truck Service. Police said Ashbaugh had assigned him another call as Hostler’s shift was nearly over. Hostler was frustrated, police said, and made a comment about Ashbaugh while speaking with another employee. Ashbaugh heard the comment because he was on the phone with that employee, according to the complaint. The argument then moved outside. Police said surveillance video and witness accounts helped them place the men at the scene and track the sequence that led to the shooting.
Hostler gave police his own account of the fight. He said Ashbaugh punched him in the face, shoved him and tried to hit him again. He also said he was afraid and did not know whether Ashbaugh had a weapon. Investigators have not publicly stated that Ashbaugh was armed. Police said Hostler pulled a firearm and shot Ashbaugh multiple times. Some accounts described about 10 shots. The court case will have to address the difference between Hostler’s claim of fear and the prosecution’s homicide charge. A charge is an accusation, and Hostler is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Ashbaugh was taken for medical care after the shooting and was pronounced dead. Local reports identified him as a manager and tow truck worker connected to the Springdale Township business. A fundraiser was created for his family after his death, and local coverage said it was meant to help with expenses after the sudden loss. The business did not release a detailed statement explaining the dispute or the men’s work history. That has left the public story centered on the complaint, the eyewitness account, the 911 call and the narrow fact pattern police say triggered the violence: one more call near the end of a shift.
The legal case began quickly. Hostler was arrested and arraigned on a criminal homicide charge. He was held in the Allegheny County Jail without bail. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for June 3, a step where prosecutors would seek to show that the case should continue in court. Defense arguments, including any claim tied to fear or self-defense, would be expected to develop through later filings and hearings. Police have not announced whether additional charges will be filed. They also have not released the surveillance video publicly or said whether every person at the business has been interviewed.
For neighbors, the case remained less about court language than the sound and sight of violence where they did not expect it. Mattern said she wished she could have done more. Neumann’s comments captured the same unease, with a quiet neighborhood forced into the center of a homicide investigation. Police continued to ask for information as the case moved through Allegheny County courts. The shooting left the towing company with no ordinary return to business and left residents with a scene they kept replaying from a few minutes near sunset.
The public record still left key questions unresolved, including what video shows in full and how the court will weigh his statement to police. Hostler remained jailed as the homicide case moved toward its next scheduled court date.
Author note: Last updated June 23, 2026.