LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — A Lancaster County man was sentenced Thursday, Dec. 29 up to 20 years in jail after entering an open guilty plea, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office.
Shawn Stryker, 51, of the 500 block of Goldfinch Road was charged with aggravated assault after shooting at police on Jan. 3, 2021.
Officers at the scene were responding to a domestic incident.
Stryker refused to surrender and continued the standoff with police for approximately 10 hours.
A Lancaster County Special Response Emergency Team (SERT) member fired a shot at Stryker when he left his house with a rifle aimed at police. The officer's shooting was later deemed justified.
Nobody was hit by Stryker's gunfire.
“You are alive today for one reason and one reason only,” Judge Jeffery Wright said to the defendant during sentencing. “On January 3, 2021, [the officers] allowed you to live. After you took two shots at them, they would have been entirely justified to return fire. Return fire to what, according to the file, was a clear target."
SERT officers arrested Stryker around 9:15 p.m. after he left his home.
"[Officers] showed mercy. For that, I am in awe. And for that, for every day you have been alive since January 3, 2021, and for every day forward from today, you should show gratitude," said Judge Wright.
Stryker was charged with six counts of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and possession of a weapon for his actions during the standoff. He was also charged with misdemeanor simple assault and reckless endangerment for pointing a gun at his girlfriend.
