The man who reportedly shot a police officer during a barricade situation in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, has died, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
In an updated press statement on Monday, DA Kevin Steele named the suspected shooter as Andrew Ecker, 25. On Sunday night, a Montgomery County Department of Public Safety spokesperson told CBS News Philadelphia that officers had arrested a suspect soon before 11 p.m.
The DA’s office stated in a Monday report that Ecker was fatally shot around 10:45 p.m.
The incident began just after 5 p.m. when cops responded to a two-car mishap near Beech and North Mt. Vernon streets in Pottstown.
Officers struggled with Ecker at the crash scene when he attempted to take a. 22-caliber gun, according to the DA.
Police pursued Ecker back to his home on Winding Road, where he fired multiple shots at officers and struck Pottstown Officer Caleb Whitney in the shoulder, according to Steele. Whitney was treated at Reading Hospital and released late Sunday night.
Ecker holed himself inside the house for more than five hours and refused to emerge, so SWAT negotiators were called in to try to bring him out. A temporary shelter-in-place order has been issued for Winding Road residents.
A neighbor who did not want to be identified stated that they initially heard gunshots at about 6 p.m. Sunday.
“I was actually making dinner and you just heard this really loud bang and then all of a sudden there was probably a series of six or eight gunshots right in a row like somebody unloaded a clip,” says the neighbor.
The DA’s office stated on Sunday that when Ecker shot at police earlier in the evening, cops returned fire but did not injure him.
Detectives of the county are looking into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Reference: Police officer shot in Pottstown, Pennsylvania; suspect fatally shot after hours-long barricade
