17 Shots Fired At Police In Greensburg
HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP (KDKA) --- 44-year-old Daniel Ryan was arraigned this morning on 17 counts of aggravated assault. Each count represents the amount of shots he fired at State police.
"While the troopers were there they said that they could hear the wizzing of bullets going by them and see fragments and things of that nature striking the area of where they were located," says Trooper Steve Limani.
Police responded to a home on Antler Lane in Hempfield Township around 10:30 Thursday night.
After Ryan and his wife got into a drunken argument, he threatened to kill her.
She ran to a neighbor's house and called for help.
"She was really upset and getting alot of phone calls. She did tell me that she was afraid he was going to harm her," says neighbor Ruth Trumbetta.
When police arrived, Ryan refused to come out of the house and began firing shots from two 9-mm handguns.
The shots came within inches of more than one dozen state troopers that created a perimeter around the house.
The stand-off lasted until around 5:00 a.m. Friday morning when police pumped tear gas into the house.
"I think these were obviously very serious allegations against the defendant. Firing at troopers is obviously a very serious situation," says assistant District Attorney Leo Ciaramitaro.
At his arraignment, Ryan told the magistrate that he is a case worker for the Department of Welfare and had been treated for alcohol problems in the past.
Neighbors were shocked to see him become violent.
"They're real quiet, real friendly neighbors," Trumbetta says.
Ryan was taken to the hospital to be checked for any side effects from the tear gas.
No troopers were injured.
"We were very fortunate last night that none of our troopers sustained any injury," Limani says.
Ryan was placed in jail on $500,000 bond.
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