Three Pennsylvania police officers killed in shootout

Doctors in York County, Pa., on Thursday treated two injured police officers after they were shot Wednesday while serving a warrant. A shooter killed three other officers during the altercation and the individual was shot and killed by police, said Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Colonel Christopher Paris. Authorities by early Thursday morning had not released the names of any of the officers involved or the identity of the shooter.

At the time of the firefight, the officers were conducting an investigation that began Tuesday in a rural township about 100 miles west of Philadelphia. Local, state, and federal agents were working on the case, Paris said Wednesday, and the investigation spanned across different locations in York County. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday said the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives were on the scene assisting local law enforcement.

How have officials responded? The incident was one of the deadliest days for law enforcement in the state, according to the Pennsylvania Fraternal Order of Police. Gov. Josh Shapiro traveled to York County on Wednesday where he visited with the families of the officers. He also ordered all United States and Pennsylvania flags on public buildings to be flown at half-staff to honor the victims. State Attorney General Dave Sunday, who previously worked as a district attorney in York County, mourned the officers’ deaths and prayed for the injured to recover. 

Dig deeper: Read Josh Schumacher’s report in Compassion about how crime rates were dropping nationwide before President Trump’s crackdown.