Authorities said the victim and the suspect did not know each other and called the attack a random act of violence.
BERWYN, Pa. — A 44-year-old man was charged with murder after authorities said he shot a woman as she drove through Tredyffrin Township late Saturday night, sending her vehicle into a pole near Contention Lane and Old State Road.
Investigators said the woman died Sunday night at Paoli Hospital, more than a day after the shooting, and that the case moved quickly from a crash response to a homicide investigation. Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe said Steven Jahn acted alone and that detectives found no known connection between Jahn and the victim, leaving the shooting under investigation as what officials described as a random attack.
Police said officers were first sent to the 800 block of Contention Lane at about 10:47 p.m. Saturday for a reported crash. When they arrived, they found a woman slumped over the wheel of a silver Acura SUV with a gunshot wound to the head. She was given aid at the scene and taken to Paoli Hospital. Authorities later said the vehicle had struck a pole after the gunfire. By Monday, prosecutors said surveillance video, witness interviews and other evidence helped detectives map out the suspect’s movements in the hours before and after the shooting. De Barrena-Sarobe said the killing was “an unspeakable tragedy” and said investigators worked through the night to identify and arrest the suspect.
Charging documents described a long and troubled chain of events before the shooting. According to the complaint, Jahn drove to a PNC Bank on East Lancaster Avenue in Paoli at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday and called 911, telling police that multiple people, including undercover officers, were following him and that he had a loaded 9mm revolver. An officer who met him in the parking lot reported that Jahn appeared frantic and said people were after him. Police told him he could go to Paoli Hospital for a mental health evaluation, but only if he surrendered his weapon. Investigators said Jahn refused to give up the gun, though he agreed to drive to the hospital with an escort. Once there, the complaint said, he refused to go inside after claiming vehicles in the lot were part of the group following him. Officers then let him leave.
Authorities said later evidence tied Jahn to the shooting site. Investigators said surveillance footage and witness accounts placed his silver Chevrolet Silverado near Contention Lane and Old State Road at about 10:40 p.m. They also obtained Ring camera footage from a nearby home in which a gunshot can be heard. Shortly after 11 p.m., police were called to Station Avenue in Berwyn for a disturbance. A man and his son told officers they saw Jahn standing in their driveway after hearing four gunshots. The pair said Jahn claimed he had been waiting for police in the area for three days. They later saw him return in the pickup, yelling and cursing before driving away. Prosecutors have not publicly described a motive, and the victim’s name has not been released because, officials said, her family needed time to grieve.
Detectives tracked Jahn into Sunday morning. Police said Easttown Township officers found his pickup at about 3:15 a.m. near Price and Kromer avenues in Berwyn, close to a home previously associated with him. At about 6:15 a.m., a relative called police and reported that Jahn had come to the house around 11:30 p.m. Saturday saying someone was out to get him. The relative told investigators Jahn slept on the couch and brought a semiautomatic firearm and a dash camera inside. Police said they later recovered a loaded Smith & Wesson M&P9 on the couch, a Smith & Wesson Model 442 .38 Special revolver with five spent casings in the dining room, and the dash camera on a kitchen counter. Investigators said the dash camera showed Jahn holding a gun inside his truck earlier that evening. The complaint also said that while he was in a holding cell, Jahn stated, “I pulled the trigger at the car. I definitely did that but I didn’t do anything else.”
The case has shaken a community where residents said the violence felt abrupt and deeply personal. Neighbors began leaving flowers near the intersection where the woman was shot. One resident who spoke to local television said he drove past the scene shortly after the shooting and later realized he could have been there minutes earlier. Authorities have emphasized that they do not believe there is an ongoing threat. Tredyffrin Township Police Superintendent T. Michael Beaty said investigators left “no stone” unturned as officers worked with county prosecutors and nearby departments to build the case. Online court records show Jahn, who officials said is unhoused and had previously lived in Berwyn, is being held without bail at Chester County Prison. Court records did not list an attorney for him as of Monday.
Jahn faces criminal homicide, first-degree murder, third-degree murder and weapons-related charges. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 23, 2026, while investigators continue reviewing evidence and awaiting autopsy results and other reports.
Author note: Last updated March 10, 2026.