(This story was updated to accurately reflect the most current information.)

The Pennsylvania State Police are investigating the death of a 43-year-old Erie man who was shot multiple times by a state parole agent while the victim was in a car in the 400 block of East 27th Street around 10 p.m. on July 2.

State police said the victim dragged the parole officer with the victim’s car before the officer shot the victim and freed himself.

Authorities said only the state parole agent was involved in the shooting. Erie police were not involved.

The victim is Marchello D. Woodard, 43, his mother, Martha Bradley, told the Erie Times-News.

“This makes no sense,” Bradley said.

Woodard’s parole was to expire on July 18, according to the state Department of Corrections. Court records show he was serving a state sentence for drug cases in Erie County.

The state police and detectives with the Erie County District Attorney’s Office are investigating the death as a matter of protocol, District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz said.

“While conducting an investigation, a Pennsylvania State Parole Agent discharged a department issued pistol at an identified male who succumbed to his injuries,” the state police said in a brief news release.

Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook ruled the death a homicide following an autopsy, Cook said on the afternoon of July 3. Cook also identified Woodard as the victim, and said the cause of death was “multiple gunshot wounds to the chest.”

Cook declined to be more specific.

Victim drove car after he was shot, city says

The shooting happened as Woodard was in a car on East 27th Street, between Parade and Wallace streets, at about 9:44 p.m., the city of Erie said in a news release, in which the city did not name Woodard as the victim. The city said the car headed west, where Erie police stopped it about two blocks away, at the intersection of East 27th and German streets.

The police responded after state parole agents reported the shooting, and police were not present during the shooting, the city and others said.

The police officers pulled the victim “from the vehicle and started rendering aid immediately. Additional officers arrived and assisted in rendering aid until EmergyCare arrived and transported the victim to the hospital,” the city said. “Unfortunately, the driver of the car succumbed to his injuries.”

Woodard’s family members and others near the scene of the shooting said the two state parole agents went up to his car as he pulled in front of his girlfriend’s house in the 400 block of East 27th Street. They said one of the officers had a gun. State police said the incident happened in the 300 block.

Bradley, Woodard’s mother, was not at the house when the shooting occurred, but she visited it on July 3.

“Someone is going to pay for the death of my son,” Bradley said.

State police: Victim dragged parole officer with car

State police said Woodard dragged the parole officer as Woodard began to drive away, according to a news release the state police issued around 9 p.m. on July 3.

“The agent fired multiple rounds into the driver’s compartment of the vehicle before falling free of the vehicle,” according to the release.

The state police said troopers will conduct “a thorough and independent investigation into the incident” with detectives from the District Attorney’s Office, according to the release.

The release also states that the state police’s “Heritage Affairs Office will be working with community leaders to address any concerns the community may have” over the incident with Woodard, who was Black.

‘Erie police responded to a report of shots fired’

Erie Police Chief Dan Spizarny confirmed that investigators said a state parole agent fired the shots.

“In general, Erie police responded to a report of shots fired by a state parole agent. We responded to the scene, we found a gunshot victim and we performed emergency first aid,” Spizarny told the Erie Times-News.

An Erie police SWAT team member was one of the first emergency responders to provide medical aid to the shooting victim, Spizarny said.

“The victim was transported to Hamot. The parole agent was also taken to the hospital,” Spizarny said. “We secured the scene and the investigation is being led by the Pennsylvania State Police.”

“It’s important that the investigation proceeds and that we gather facts,” Spizarny said.

Erie Mayor Joe Schember also said he expected to be briefed on the shooting soon.

“I’m not sure exactly what led up to this yet,” Schember said. “But with something like this, it’s very important to get all the facts and information and do a thorough investigation. Erie police will cooperate with the Pennsylvania State Police in every way that is necessary.”

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com or 814-870-1813.

Contact Kevin Flowers at kflowers@timesnews.com. Follow him on X at @ETNflowers.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Police, DA: State parole agent involved in fatal shooting of Erie man