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PLYMOUTH — The wife of a Nanticoke man killed outside a bar last weekend says it feels like “someone ripped my heart out of my chest.”

Anthony James Wisneski, 34, was the father of four.

Wife Shannon says she warned her husband not to go to RisNick’s that night.

But he did, and now he’s gone.

Shannon got a call early Sunday notifying her of what happened, but didn’t learn her husband died until she arrived at the hospital.

Wisneski’s close friend of 20 years, Dave Compton, also learned of his death through an early morning call.

Compton, 36, of Mountain Top, was actually in London on a business trip when he heard the news.

“I was devastated,” Compton said.

Anthony Lamar Jackson, 38, had been engaged in an argument with another patron at the East Main Street bar, and he suggested the matter be settled outside, troopers report.

When Jackson, the patron, bar security and Wisneski stepped outside, Jackson allegedly shot Wisneski multiple times.

Jackson then fled but was later apprehended in Lancaster County.

Shannon says the day before the shooting, her husband — known to most as AJ — took her and their children to Giants Despair in Laurel Run to watch the hill climb races. His four children are Savannah, 10; Anthony, 11; Dylan Tuthill, 14; and Quentin Keller, 19.

‘Shirt off his back’

Those who knew Wisneski say he was a genuine, giving person.

Compton said they were always there for each other.

“He’s more like my brother than my friend.”

Compton recalled Wisneski springing into action when Winter Storm Stella buried the Wyoming Valley in snow in March. He helped neighbors shovel their sidewalks and gave rides to stranded strangers.

Shannon said despite her husband’s raspy voice and intimidating presence, helping others was what he was known for.

“AJ would have taken the shirt off his back for anybody,” she said. “He would have done anything for anybody.”

Cousin Christina Koprowski, 31, said she did not meet AJ until she was a teenager. She remembered working with him at various restaurants over the years, and she said he had a way of making others smile.

His laugh was something Koprowski will never forget.

“He had an indescribable laugh,” she said.

When asked what she would remember most about her husband, Shannon became emotional.

“There’s just so much,” she said. “I just don’t even know what to say.”

Jackson faces charges of criminal homicide and prohibited possession of a firearm. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing before District Judge Donald Whittaker at 1 p.m. July 19, and he is jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility without bail.

“I hope he spends the rest of his life in prison,” said Shannon.

A viewing service for Wisneski is set for 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at Charles V. Sherbin Funeral Home, 630 Main Road, Hanover.

This is a photo of Anthony Wisneski and wife Shannon that was posted to Facebook. Wisneski, the father of four, was fatally shot outside a Plymouth bar last weekend, police say.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_WISNESKI.jpg.optimal.jpgThis is a photo of Anthony Wisneski and wife Shannon that was posted to Facebook. Wisneski, the father of four, was fatally shot outside a Plymouth bar last weekend, police say.

Wisneski
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Wisneski2.jpg.optimal.jpgWisneski

By Travis Kellar

[email protected]

GoFundMe

Christina Koprowski has established a GoFundMe account to cover memorial costs and help with college funding for Anthony Wisneski’s children.

The page can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/anthony-aj-wisneski.