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Stanton Heights: Pittsburgh standoff, 5 officers shot 3 killed

by Amy Judd | April 4, 2009 at 07:26 am

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Richard Poplawski, 23, opened fire on police officers this morning at his home in Stanton Heights, Pittsburg, and five officers were shot and wounded and three were killed.

He has now surrendered to police.

4:42pm EST - Police were responding to a domestic disturbance call at the home of Poplawski, when he opened fire at them wearing a bullet proof vest. He fired at officers several dozen times with an assault rifle before he was wounded and then surrendered. Police Chief Nathan Harper called it 'a sad day for the city of Pittsburgh'.

The first officers where shot immediately upon entering the house, leading Harper to say he believed they were victims of a trap set by the gunman.

"As soon as the officer stepped through the doorway he was immediately met with gunfire," Harper said. He and a second officer who came through the doorway were both shot in the head.

3:31pm EST - In a press conference, police revealed that Richard Poplawski was wearing a bulletproof vest when he shot at the officers.

It is now confirmed that three officers have been killed.

A police official says a man opened fire on officers responding to a domestic disturbance call in Pittsburgh, killing three of them.

The police official is at the scene and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

When some of the officers were wounded, they could not be moved for some time, for fear of provoking further attacks.

Police tried to serve an arrest warrant at Poplawski's home, when he opened fire on them.

In a telephone call, Poplawski told friends he had been shot in the chest and leg, the newspaper reported.

Police said they could not confirm reports the suspect's mother and grandmother remained in the house with him during the standoff.

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Paschen

at 07:34 on April 4th, 2009

In the last 24 hours we had an unusual amount of shootings.

Blue Crush

at 07:36 on April 4th, 2009

AP reporting 3 officers dead.

Amy Judd

at 07:55 on April 4th, 2009

Thank you - let me know if you see any other updates.

duo

at 09:06 on April 4th, 2009

Thank you, Amy. This kind of outrageous news is getting all too common. That makes two mass murders within 24 hours. Would tighter gun control help, do you think?

Mary

Amy Judd

at 09:47 on April 4th, 2009

I definitely think it would help, although neither of the two incidents yesterday and today will cause gun control laws to change in my opinon.

Blue Crush

at 09:24 on April 4th, 2009

See video. Next update 3:00 p.m.

jazzyzazzy

at 09:42 on April 4th, 2009

GOD BLESS THEM ALL.Who would be a cop, these days they just seem to be shooting targets for the desperado,s in this unjust world.my heart goes out to their families.

Blue Crush

at 12:20 on April 4th, 2009

From thepittsburghchannel.com, the slain officers were Paul Sciullo, Steve Mayhle and Eric Kelly.

Friends of Poplawski say he was a gun enthusiast who "didn't like our rights being infringed upon." by "the Obama gun ban that's on the way."

His mother was in the basement and was the one who originally called the police, after a domestic dispute. Neighbors heard nearly 100 rounds of gunfire.

Amy Judd

at 12:39 on April 4th, 2009

I wrote up a short piece about all I could find about Richard Poplawski

Yuliya Talmazan

at 11:16 on April 5th, 2009

[UPDATE - April 5, 2009]

An ambush that resulted in the shooting deaths of three Pittsburgh policemen was precipitated by a 911 call from the gunman's mother over a dog urinating in the house.

Court papers say Richard Poplawski and his mother argued about his dog's accident Saturday morning, prompting her to threaten to evict him and to call police.

Police have charged 23-year-old Poplawski with killing three officers and attempting to kill nine others during a four-hour siege.

Poplawski has been arraigned in a local hospital, where he's recovering from gunshot wounds to his legs.

Police say Poplawski was heavily armed and wearing a bulletproof vest when he killed the first two officers on sight.

His mother opened the door for police, saw the shootings and then fled to the basement.

master_jim2008

at 11:23 on April 5th, 2009

Way too many mass shootings lately, and I sure wouldn't want to kill even ONE cop and then surrender to them, geesh, that's a death sentence in and of itself