Policing is a dangerous job. In a split second, a routine traffic stop or domestic situation or arrest can go sideways with catastrophic and sometimes lethal results.
In 2025, so far, 12 police officers in Pennsylvania have been shot while serving and protecting, according to news reports.
Four have been killed, all in York County. West York Police Officer Andrew Duarte was killed by friendly fire when police shot and killed a man who took intensive care workers hostage at UPMC Memorial Hospital. Three Northern York County Regional Police detectives – Mark Baker, Cody Becker and Isaiah Emenheiser – were killed when they were ambushed by a suspect armed with an AR-style rifle wanted for stalking a woman in North Codorus Township.
(From left) Northern York County Regional Police Detective Mark Baker, Detective Sergeant Cody Becker and Detective Isaiah Emenheiser. The three officers were killed in the line of duty on September 17, 2025.
Any death is an unacceptable tragedy, but statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Justice do not reveal any discernible trend in the number of police wounded and killed in the line of duty in recent years in Pennsylvania.
In 2023, according to the justice department’s annual report, 25 police officers were shot in 17 incidents in Pennsylvania. Five were killed.
In 2024, 10 officers were shot in nine incidents in the state. One was killed. Nationally, according to the justice department, it was one of the deadliest years in the past decade for police officers – 50 were killed by gun violence in 2024. (During those years, Texas led the nation in the number of police officers shot on the job – 39 in 2023 and 32 in 2024. Four were killed in 2023; five in 2024.)
This year, York County has had as many incidents in which police officers were shot as Philadelphia. Those officers survived their wounds.
The shootings of police in Pennsylvania this year were:
Franklin County pursuit
On Oct. 8, on Interstate 81 near Greencastle in Franklin County, two state troopers were shot after pursuing a retail theft suspect. One trooper has been released from the hospital, and the other was in serious but stable condition, according to the last report. The suspect was shot and killed.
York County ambush
On Sept. 17, four officers from the Northern York County Regional Police Department and one from the York County Sheriff’s office were searching for a suspect wanted for stalking a North Codorus Township woman. The man, 24-year-old Matthew Ruth, was waiting for police at the woman’s home and opened fire with an AR-style rifle when the detectives opened the home’s front door. Baker, Becker and Emenheiser were killed. Another Nothern Regional detective was wounded, as was a sheriff’s deputy, Lt. David Godfrey. Godfrey, shot multiple times, has been released from the hospital to a rehab facility. The current condition and identity of the wounded Northern Regional detective have not been released. The suspect was killed.
Philadelphia’s Overbrook High School
On May 7, a Philadelphia police officer trying to break up a large fight near Overbrook High School was shot during the melee. A suspect was arrested, and the officer was released from the hospital after being treated for his wound.
UPMC shooting
A memorial photo of Andrew Duarte carried by his mother Nancy Duarte Matarese during the press conference.
On Feb. 22, a man distraught over the death of his girlfriend the night before in UPMC Memorial Hospital in West Manchester Township took ICU staff hostage, wounding three hospital employees.
When the suspect exited the ICU, holding a nurse hostage as he encountered a phalanx of police in the hallway, police opened fire. Duarte was killed when buck shot from a shotgun hit the side of his chest, an area unprotected by his ballistic vest. Three other officers were wounded. The suspect was killed, shot between 15 and 20 times by police.
Philadelphia Highway Patrol
On Feb. 10, Philadelphia Highway Patrol officers tried to conduct a routine traffic stop on 23rd Street. The suspect fled and crashed into parked cars nearby. When he fled on foot, according to news reports, he shot at police, wounding one officer in the hand. Another round struck the chest plate of the officer’s ballistic vest. The officer was treated for his wound and released. The suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police did not return fire during the incident, Philadelphia police reported.
Columnist/reporter Mike Argento has been a York Daily Record staffer since 1982. Reach him at mike@ydr.com.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: How many police officers have been shot in PA so far in 2025