HARRISBURG (WPMT-TV) -- Shawn McCoy, 20, remains at large Wednesday evening after police say he participated in a robbery, then shot at police in a high-speed chase. No police were injured when they say McCoy fired multiple shots, two of which hit the patrol car, after fleeing from Verbeke Street in midtown Harrisburg. Police did not fire back, although they would have been justified in doing so, according to Harrisburg Police Chief Thomas Carter."They took into consideration the other persons they would be putting in danger if they returned gunfire," Carter said Wednesday at a news briefing. "The outcome is good."
McCoy, along with alleged accomplices Sharyne Cook, 24, and Yusef Chandler-Blake, 25, were involved in an armed robbery outside 221 Verbeke Street around 2:36 a.m. Wednesday. They fled police, with McCoy shooting at officers as they sped away. The chase ended in Uptown Harrisburg on the 3000 block of Penn Street near Italian Lake.
Cook and Chandler-Blake were arrested after the car chase, but McCoy escaped and is still considered potentially armed and dangerous."I know Shawn personally. I know his mom and I want to reach out to them so he surrenders without further incident," Carter said. "It's not the desire of the Harrisburg police department to injure anyone."
McCoy was recently released from a two-year jail stint, and is wanted on two other robbery charges stemming from last month, Carter said. He now faces an additional nine charges, including two counts of robbery, criminal attempted homicide, and aggravated assault.
Cook will be charged with five crimes while Chandler-Blake will be charged with four, both including robbery, flight to avoid apprehension, and fleeing and eluding.
The hunt for McCoy is especially close for Chief Carter, who said he has known McCoy since he was a child.
"Shawn was a pretty good athlete at one time, but for some reason, he just went to the left," Carter said. "He wasn't focused. I don't know if its because his dad was incarcerated and he didn't have that proper guidance."
Carter then acknowledged, given McCoy's past, the manhunt could be especially dangerous for police.
"They are prepared to sacrifice anything possible," he said. "If that means taking out a victim or taking out a police officer, that's the mindset they have."
No one has been seriously injured since the ordeal began early Wednesday morning. McCoy's family hopes to keep it that way. His aunt told FOX43 the family is pleading with him to surrender to police.
"I just don't want him to get shot," said Linda McCoy, Shawn's aunt. "His mom is going crazy right now.
She then added, holding back tears, "If I see him, I'm bringing him down to the police station because that's the safest thing to do."