A Fleetwood man was shot during a standoff with officers from multiple law enforcement agencies after he led police on a chase that ended on Route 61 in Ontelaunee Township, Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams said Friday.
The incident happened before 4:30 a.m., when police ordered Route 61 closed in both directions between Route 73 and Snyder Road for nearly six hours for what was reported as a police incident.
Adams described the incident as a police-involved shooting of the suspect, Ryan N. Billings, 54, who is expected to survive his injuries.
Adams said the standoff happened after a state trooper used a driving maneuver to force Billings’ vehicle to stop.
A standoff with state and local police followed, with members of the Berks County Emergency Response Team, which is specially trained in standoffs, responding.
Adams said county detectives under his purview will investigate along with state police.
Billings was charged Friday with nine counts each of assault on a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment, as well as single counts of DUI and fleeing or attempting to elude an officer.
Following arraignment Friday afternoon before District Judge Brian K. Strand in Bern Township, Billings was committed to Berks County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail to await a hearing.
According to the criminal complaint:
Billings’ wife called 911 shortly before 7 p.m. Thursday, asking for a welfare check on her husband after he threatened self-harm via text messages. She said he was seen leaving his home on Pine Street with an AR-15-style rifle and getting into his car that left in an unknown direction.
Fleetwood police entered him as a missing and endangered person shortly before 11 p.m. and obtained emergency approval to follow his travels via cellular tower pings from his mobile phone.
A ping placed his vehicle near Kutztown. A Kutztown officer spotted the car and followed it until other units closed in. A traffic stop was initiated in the 2800 block of Moselem Springs Road, which is Route 662, in Richmond Township.
Billings didn’t stop, instead continuing north on Route 662 to Route 61 in Perry Township before making a U-turn and heading south.
State police from the Hamburg station joined the pursuit.
A trooper deployed a maneuver that successfully stopped the car.
Billings refused orders to get out of the car, made suicide-by-cop utterances and kept reaching for the rifle.
He eventually was seen pointing the rifle out the driver’s side window. When he refused to drop the weapon, multiple officers fired, striking him just after midnight.
Despite being wounded, he continued to refuse to get out of the car. He did, however, drop the rifle.
The BCERT team arrived about 2:45 a.m. Friday and took him into custody.
A second AR-15-style rifle was found in the vehicle along with open containers of alcohol.