Investigators say suicide bomber targeted Cambria County family

CAMBRIA COUNTY, Pa. — A man who deliberately blew himself up in a truck outside a Cambria County home, blowing it to pieces and injuring a man and his son inside, was due in court for sentencing at the time.

But 40-year-old Bradley Kollar, of Hastings, skipped his court date Tuesday morning and, instead, caused the explosion in Clearfield Township. Kollar was to be sentenced on theft and drug charges.

At a news conference Wednesday morning, investigators said Kollar caused the blast at Bill and Linda Shaner’s Knepshire Road home just before 9 a.m.

Cambria County Coroner Dennis Kwiatkowski said Kollar’s body was found near the explosion. The coroner says Kollar committed suicide when he blew up a device in his truck next to the home.

Kwiatkowski said Bill Shaner and his teenage son, Ryan, were injured. They’re both in critical condition.

“We believe at this time that the suspect specifically targeted the Shaner family,” Trooper John Matchik said. “He pulled in front of the house in his truck, and appeared to have detonated some sort of explosive device.”

Investigators said they could not confirm that the suicide mission was taken against the family as retaliation for turning over evidence against Kollar to state police in a criminal investigation, but according to a search warrant, Kollar called Shaner Tuesday morning and said, "I got you now, snitch."

Kollar, who was free after posting $20,000 bail, killed himself on the day he was to report to the Cambria County Courthouse in Ebensburg to be sentenced for setting up what police described as a “functional” meth lab and operating a chop shop.

District Attorney Kelly Callihan said that last June her office filed a petition to revoke Kollar's bond, based on his mental status and his discussions with a fellow inmate at the Cambria County Jail that he was going to kill himself by blowing himself up with explosives.

“We had concerned that he was suicidal and that he had access to explosive,” Callihan said.

The petition was denied, despite a tape recording of that conversation obtained at the lockup, Callihan said.

Kollar, who lost his left arm in an explosives accident years ago, made fireworks and sold them, according to Callihan.

State and federal investigators are collecting evidence from the blast scene to be sent to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives laboratory in an attempt to determine what types of explosive device was used.

Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE contributed to this report.

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