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Shooter kills neighbour, wounds 2 troopers in rural Pennsylvania ambush
Man ambushed responding state troopers, wounding two and shooting down a drone while firing dozens of rounds from a semiautomatic weapon
A 61-year-old man killed a woman, 57, who was his neighbour, in the US state of Pennsylvania on Thursday, before he was shot dead by responding troopers. Before being shot, he ambushed the police officers, injuring two of them as he fired dozens of bullets from a semiautomatic rifle.
He was killed by police in retaliatory action.
The boyfriend of the woman who was killed called 911 after 11 am from their home near Thompson Susquehanna County, AP reported.
Police did not say why the shooter, Carmine Faino, decided to kill 57-year-old Lori Wasko. He later fired at troopers Joseph Perechinsky and William Jenkins, both of whom were in stable condition with serious injuries on Thursday night, police told reporters.
Faino also fired at police vehicles and at an SUV operated by a responding emergency worker, besides shooting down a drone, said Christopher Paris, a state police officer.
“I don’t want to speak to his motive leading up to this. I would say you can draw certain conclusions from the standpoint that we believe Faino shot our victim prior to our arrival, and then from a position of tactical advantage fired dozens and dozens of rounds,” Paris said.
Investigators are looking into Faino's past.
Governor Josh Shapiro called the two troopers heroes.
The shooting tok place about 5 miles (8 km) north of the borough of Thompson, 163 miles (262 km) north of Philadelphia.
Erika Mills, who lives less than a mile from where the shootings took place, said it made for a terrifying day in a community that is usefully peaceful. “This is a very very quiet town. There has never been anything comparable,” AP quoted her as saying.
