Republished June 30, 2020 - 6:21 AM
Original Publication Date June 30, 2020 - 5:41 AM
HAZLETON, Pa. - A fugitive who was riding in a tractor-trailer that had been pulled over on a Pennsylvania interstate led authorities on a brief chase and held them at bay with gunfire for three hours until they finally shot and killed him, officials said.
The 48-year-old resident of Whiteland, Indiana, was wanted for a homicide probation violation, authorities said. Members of a U.S. Marshals Service task force stopped the truck on Interstate 81 early Monday evening.
The driver got out, but the passenger drove off, leading officers on a chase that ended in the city of Hazleton when the truck got stuck in grass. But he refused to surrender and “intermittently fired weapons” at troopers during the ensuing standoff, officials said.
The man was shot and killed. His name was being withheld until his family could be notified.
The Pennsylvania State Police and the Luzerne County prosecutors are investigating the shooting.
___ This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the community where the standoff occurred to Hazleton, instead of Hazelton, and to correct the gunman's hometown to Whiteland, Indiana, instead of Whitehead.
News from © The Associated Press, 2020