Four people were killed in a shooting incident that injured three state police troopers in Blair County, said District Attorney Rich Consiglio.
The crime scene extends along at least six miles of Juniata Valley Road, which runs along the Juniata River, said Steve Michelone of Blair County Emergency Management Agency.
The shooter was mobile as he exchanged gunfire with police, he said. Officials said he used his vehicle to ram a police car during the chase.
One of the dead was the unidentified shooter, who got into a confrontation with police on the road near Geeseytown, Frankstown Township, Consiglio said.
Family members of the victims said the woman was the first to be shot at Juniata Valley Gospel Church.
The shooter, who has not been identified, then reportedly shot two men in the driveway of a home after a confrontation at a stop sign.
“This person went to their driveway with a pistol, pointed at them and started shooting,” said Marie Brenneman, who identified herself as a cousin of one of the victims.
She said the shooter was a neighbor of the two male victims and “they were uneasy around him,” she said.
None of the troopers‘ injuries are life-threatening, the DA said.
One was struck by glass after a bullet shattered the window of his police vehicle during the shootout, Consiglio said.
Trooper Adam Reed told the Associated Press that one trooper was shot but saved by his bulletproof vest.
Blair County Emergency Management‘s Facebook page indicates police had “neutralized” the shooter.
Barbara and Bob Stoudnour, who live on Juniata Valley Road, said they returned from a shopping trip to find the roadway shut down.
“I don‘t know what we are going to find when we get home,” Bob Stoudnour said.
A media briefing is expected this afternoon from state police spokesmen at the Geeseytown Fire Hall near Hollidaysburg.