Man fatally shot following lengthy standoff in Melcroft
Alyssa Choiniere/For the Observer-Reporter
Fire crews block off the road near Pine Slope Road in Saltlick Township on Tuesday.
Alyssa Choiniere
State police Trooper Robert Broadwater prepares to talk to the media about what led to a standoff in Melcroft on Tuesday. A man inside a Pine Slope Road home shot at police earlier in the day and then barricaded himself in the home. After hours of negotiations, the man came outside, raised a gun at police and was shot and killed.
A Melcroft man was fatally shot by police at the conclusion of a lengthy standoff that began with a call for domestic violence and shots fired at state troopers Tuesday.
“They acted appropriately to handle the situation,” said Trooper Robert Broadwater, spokesman for the Uniontown station. “It’s not the outcome we wanted at all. We wanted a peaceful resolution with this.”
After several hours of negotiations, the man, who has not yet been identified, came out of his home, said Broadwater. Once outside, he raised a gun at police.
State police were first called to the Pine Slopes Road home in Saltlick Township at about 10:30 a.m. after a woman escaped the house and called 911 to report domestic violence. The man fired shots through a door at troopers responding to the scene, Broadwater said.
One trooper was hit with something, possibly shrapnel from a bullet or wood fragments, Broadwater said. EMS examined him on the scene and determined he did not need further medical treatment.
A State Police Emergency Response Team was dispatched after the troopers were fired upon, including negotiators who spoke with the suspect throughout the standoff.
The sound of one gunshot echoed through the small town at about 3:30 p.m., followed by the sound of an ambulance siren and the faint smell of gunpowder.
Broadwater was visibly distressed during a press conference at a nearby media staging area minutes later.
“I didn’t want to have to come down and say this,” he said.
The small town, dotted with “Back the Blue” signs, is no stranger to tragedy. On January 28, 2015, Timothy O’Brien Smith, 28, gunned down four people outside Ed’s Car Wash on Indian Creek Valley Road before fatally shooting himself. The victims were Chelsie Lou Cline, 25, her brother Seth William Cline, 21, Cortney Sue Snyder, 23, and William Scott Porterfield, 27. A fifth person hid in the backseat of a truck and escaped with minor injuries from broken glass.
In July 2018, a six-hour standoff ended when Troy Allan “T.J.” Breakiron Jr., 29, surrendered peacefully following negotiations with SERT.
Tiffany Taylor of Melcroft said the number of major incidents in the small town is rattling.
“It’s scary. This is the second time in less than five years that something like this happened,” Taylor said. “This is a pretty small town, so the chances of you knowing someone involved are better than not.”
Taylor didn’t know who was involved with the standoff at the time, several hours before the suspect was fatally shot. She called a woman who lived on Pine Slopes Road to check on her and make sure she was OK.
She bought food and drinks for the first responders to show her support for those on the scene at one end of a roadblock, which included firefighters and ambulances on standby.
“My dad was a paramedic for a really long time and the fire department does a lot for everyone in the community,” she said. “The things they can see are pretty bad.”
Broadwater said police were not familiar with the man, and have not dealt with him in the past. He said the state police major case unit will continue the investigation into the shooting.
“All the resources that the state police have at our disposal will be on this case,” he said. “But understand, this all started with the individual’s choices and actions, and it escalated by his actions and choices. This is not that outcome that we wanted.”