Three police officers were fatally shot and two wounded Wednesday in southern Pennsylvania, and the shooter was killed by police, authorities said.
The officers were at the scene to follow up on a domestic situation that began the previous day.
“This is an absolutely tragic and devastating day. We grieve for the loss of life of three precious souls who served this county, served this commonwealth, served this country,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said.
“This kind of violence is not OK, we need to do better as a society.”
The shooting erupted in the area of North Codorus Township, about 185 kilometres west of Philadelphia, not far from the Maryland line, authorities said.
“The grief will be unbearable but we will bear it,” Pennsylvania State Police commissioner Christopher Paris at a news conference. “We will not rest until we conduct a full, fair and competent investigation into this matter.”
Dirk Anderson, a farmer who lives across a two-lane country road from the scene, said he was in his shop “when we heard shots,” which he described as “quite a few.” He saw a helicopter arrive and a large police vehicle response.
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3 police officers killed in Pennsylvania shooting
Three police officers were fatally shot and two others were injured Wednesday in southern Pennsylvania, and the shooter was killed by police, authorities said.
The two injured officers were in critical but stable condition at York Hospital, authorities said.
Paris would not say to which police department the officers belonged.
Authorities did not identify the shooter or the officers, nor did they describe the circumstances of how they were shot. Police could not share many of the details because the investigation is ongoing, Paris said.
First responders work the scene after Wednesday’s shooting. (Matt Slocum/The Associated Press)
The hospital said enhanced security protocols are in place.
U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi called the violence against police “a scourge on our society.” She said federal agents were on scene to support local officers.
“Please send prayers to the officers and those involved in the shooting in York County,” Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis said in a social media post.
Police cordon off the area around the shooting. (Mark Scolforo/The Associated Press)
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said he is also headed to the scene. In a social media post, Sunday urged “all residents to follow the instructions of local law enforcement” and said he is “praying for all involved.”
A local school district issued a shelter-in-place order, though it said schools and students were not involved in the shooting. The order was lifted later in the afternoon.
The district said in a statement that authorities “advised us to hold students and staff in our buildings as a precaution while several area roads are closed.”
Incident unfolded among soy and corn fields
The medical response unfolded on a rural road in south-central Pennsylvania that winds through an agricultural area with a barn and farm fields.Â
Officers were keeping people well back from the scene in the area’s rolling farmland, with some 30 police vehicles blocking off roads bordered by a barn, a goat farm and soybean and corn fields.
“Pennsylvania State Police, Northern Regional Police and numerous emergency responders are at the scene. The York County Commissioners are monitoring the situation closely and praying for all those involved,” the county said in a statement.
An officer in the area was killed in February, when a man armed with a pistol and zip ties entered a hospital’s intensive care unit and took staff members hostage before a shootout that left both the suspect and one officer dead.