A former Pennsylvania police officer charged with sexually assaulting two young girls more than two decades ago was killed early Wednesday during a gunfire exchange with police who recognized his vehicle and confronted him, according to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele.

Francis Connell Collier, 38, who resigned in December from the Morton Police Department in suburban Philadelphia after being placed on leave because of the investigation, was fatally shot at 3:48 a.m. in Bala Cynwyd, near his home.

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