SandyMaloneHarrisburg, PA – A U.S. Marshal was killed and two police officers were shot, when police tried to serve a warrant on a female suspect on Thursday morning.
Police have confirmed a Harrisburg police officer and a York City police officer were hit by gunfire and wounded, WCAU reported.
“A Harrisburg police officer, who was wounded, bravely returned fire and critically injured the gunman,” Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse said.
“Harrisburg mourns the loss this morning of a U.S. Marshal who died protecting our residents,” Papenfuse said.
However, the Harrisburg parking enforcement officers don’t care who is violating parking ordinances or why.
Local reporter, Joe Elias, tweeted out that several U.S. Marshals’ vehicles parked outside the Harrisburg Hospital Emergency Room had received parking tickets.
“To whomever did this: they may have a good case to fight it today,” Joe Elias tweeted.
The U.S. Marshal was murdered when police attempted to serve a warrant on a woman at a home on Mulberry Street at about 6:20 a.m. on Jan. 18.
The officers who participated in the warrant service were part of a U.S. Marshals Service task force that involved multiple agencies, according to Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo.
Police said a man emerged from the home and opened fire on officers. The shooter was killed in the gunfight, WGAL reported.
A neighbor who was on the street when the gunfight happened said there were bullets flying everywhere. She said she saw a man running from the house with police chasing him, and then heard police yelling “Officer Down!”
“I’m still standing out there. They were shooting back and forth. Ping ping ping ping ping,” Diane Stinson described the scene that took place two doors down from her house to WGAL.
Her car was hit by gunfire during the incident, Stinson said.
The U.S. Marshal and Harrisburg officer were transported to Harrisburg Hospital where the marshal was declared dead. There was no information available on the condition of the Harrisburg police officer.
The York City police officer was transported to Hershey Medical Center to be treated for non-life threatening injuries, WPVI reported.
There was no information available as to the nature of the warrant the officers were serving when the shootings happened.
Several U.S. Marshals who had raced to the hospital to support their murdered colleague after the incident found parking tickets on their windshields when they returned to their police vehicles, despite government license plates and U.S. Marshals placards left on the dashboard.
The Harrisburg mayor was apologetic and told PennLive this sometimes mistakenly happens when parking-enforcement officers do not recognize unmarked vehicles.
It’s not clear why they didn’t recognize the large U.S. Marshal signs.
“It will be a straightforward process to have the tickets waived,” Papenfuse said.
Police planned to release more information at a 2 p.m. press conference.