MOUNTVILLE, Pa. — A Lancaster County man who shot and killed another man in West Hempfield Township earlier this year was justified in using deadly force in an act of self-defense, District Attorney Heather Adams announced Wednesday.
Hector Burgos-Torres, 35, was shot and killed at a West Hempfield Township apartment on the first block of Lincoln West Drive in the early morning hours of January 8, Adams said.
A review of the case by Adams' office determined Burgos-Torres was shot while attempting to rob three people.
The shooter was justified in using deadly force because he "reasonably believed that deadly force was necessary to protect himself and others in the apartment from death or serious bodily injury," Adams said, citing statements and physical evidence gathered in the investigation to support her determination.
No charges will be filed in connection to the death of Burgos-Torres, Adams said, but the shooter will be charged with Person Not to Possess a Firearm, Receiving Stolen Property and Possession with Intent to Deliver a quantity of marijuana that was seized during the investigation of the shooting.
The firearm used to shoot Burgos-Torres had been reported stolen by its owner in 2017 out of Manheim Township, Adams said.
According to the evidence gathered by West Hempfield Township Police and the Lancaster County Detectives Office:
- Shortly before 4 a.m. on Jan. 8, two men were returning to the apartment on Lincoln West Drive, just outside Mountville, after getting food at a nearby Sheetz.
- Burgos-Torres confronted the men outside the apartment complex, demanded money, and forced the two men into an apartment at gunpoint. Burgos-Torres pointed two guns at the men.
- Burgos-Torres, who had been living with a woman at a nearby apartment within the same apartment complex, confronted the men and threatened them while pointing two guns at them. He demanded money, patted both men down, took their cellular phones, and forced them inside the apartment into a bedroom by gunpoint.
- The woman residing in the apartment was there with another female guest and their young children when Burgos-Torres and the two men cam inside. One of the victims of the robbery was able to silently tell the female visitor to call the police.
- The female resident of the apartment confronted Burgos-Torres and asked who he was, and he responded that he was an upstairs neighbor. The female visitor then saw the guns and called 911.
- The female resident then followed Burgos-Torres and the two men into the bedroom and confronted Burgos-Torres who then placed both guns under the female’s neck.
- At this point, one of the men began a physical struggle with Burgos-Torres and attempted to take the weapons from him.
- That man was struck multiple times in the head by Burgos-Torres during the fight.
- While Burgos-Torres and the first man were struggling, the second man obtained an illegally possessed firearm from a closet and fired multiple shots at Burgos-Torres, striking him several times.
- The first man was able to grab a revolver from Burgos-Torres during the struggle. After Burgos-Torres was shot, both men left the apartment and were detained by arriving police.
- Police entered the residence and discovered Burgos-Torres' body in the bedroom area with multiple gunshot wounds. Police found a 9mm handgun in Burgos-Torres’ right hand and recovered the revolver used by Burgos-Torres outside the residence.
- Police discovered that both guns had reportedly been stolen by Burgos-Torres out of East Hempfield Township on the evening immediately prior to the homicide.
- Police also seized the firearm used by the man who shot Burgos-Torres, which had been illegally obtained.
Adams did not release the identity of the man who shot Burgos-Torres.
