HAZLETON, Pa. — A fugitive from Whiteland, who was riding in a tractor-trailer that had been pulled over on a Pennsylvania interstate, led authorities on a brief chase and held them at bay with gunfire for three hours until they finally shot and killed him, officials said.
The 48-year-old resident the Johnson County town was wanted for a homicide probation violation, authorities said. Members of a U.S. Marshals Service task force stopped the truck on Interstate 81 early Monday evening.
The driver got out, but the passenger drove off, leading officers on a chase that ended in the city of Hazleton when the truck got stuck in grass. But he refused to surrender and “intermittently fired weapons” at troopers during the ensuing standoff, officials said.
The man was shot and killed. His name was being withheld until his family could be notified.
The Pennsylvania State Police and the Luzerne County prosecutors are investigating the shooting.
