NORTH CODORUS, Pa. (AP) — Law enforcement were investigating Thursday after a shooting killed three officers and wounded two more in southern Pennsylvania the day before.
The violence erupted in rural York County as officers followed up on a domestic-related investigation that began on Tuesday. Police killed the shooter.
Hours after the violence, community members held American flags and saluted as police and emergency vehicles formed a procession to the coroner’s office.
Gov. Josh Shapiro condemned the violence at a news conference and said it was a tragic loss of life. Attorney General Pamela Bondi called the violence against police “a scourge on our society.”
It was one of the deadliest days for Pennsylvania police this century. In 2009 three Pittsburgh officers responding to a domestic disturbance were ambushed and shot to death by a man in a bulletproof vest.
Police departments across the region expressed condolences on social media. People were leaving flowers at the headquarters of the Northern York Regional Police Department.
The investigation into the shooting will cover multiple locations in York County, state police said in a statement.
The shooting erupted in the area of North Codorus Township, about 115 miles (185 km) west of Philadelphia, not far from Maryland, authorities said.
Dirk Anderson heard “quite a few” shots from his home across the street from the shooting, he said. He saw a helicopter and police arrive.
The emergency response unfolded on a rural road in south-central Pennsylvania. Some 30 police vehicles blocked off roads bordered by a barn, a goat farm and soybean and corn fields.
The two injured officers were in critical but stable condition at York Hospital, authorities said.
Authorities did not identify the shooter, the officers or which police department they belonged to, or describe how they were shot, citing the investigation.
Family members of those killed were grieving but proud of their loved ones, said Shapiro.
Another officer in the area was killed in February, when a man armed with a pistol and zip ties entered a hospital’s intensive care unit and took staff members hostage before a shootout that left both the man and an officer dead.
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Associated Press reporters Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine; Kimberlee Kruesi in Providence, Rhode Island; Michael Casey in Boston and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed to this report. Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Dale from Philadelphia.
