YORK COUNTY, Pa. — Police responded to the scene of an officer-involved shooting along the 400 block of Broadway Street in Hanover Borough on Friday morning.
According to Pennsylvania State Police, on Feb. 2, an officer with the Hanover Borough Police Department was on patrol when he spotted a gray Honda Pilot parked at a Sunoco Gas Station. The Penn Township Police Department had been "on the lookout" for the car as it was known to be driven by Richard Bolen, 37, who was wanted for multiple charges including possession of a firearm and brandishing a firearm at officers.
Multiple officers from the Hanover Borough Police Department quickly responded to the scene.
When officers entered the store, Bolen reportedly noticed them and quickly ran out the back door.
Additional officers were positioned at the rear, so Bolen reportedly circled to the front of the Sunoco while drawing a handgun.
As Bolen reached the front of the Sunoco, he encountered more officers and pointed the handgun in their direction. The officers fired several rounds, fatally striking Bolon.
Bob Sponseller owns a tattoo parlor across the gas station and has lived here for more than 20 years. A bullet from the shootout struck his upstairs apartment, luckily missing any bystanders. It's a violent incident he says has happened in his community too many times.
"I heard a lot of yelling and screaming," said Sponseller. "I was upstairs and then I heard [what] sounded like fireworks to me and there was a lot of them. It’s just crazy the things that are going on, it’s changed a lot the 20 years that I’ve been here."
It's an incident that has some community members worried about their own and their family's well-being.
"It’s very sad and scary," said Emily Gonzalez, a Hanover resident who lives down the street from where the incident occurred. "It feels worrisome. I feel worried for my family."
The officers from the Hanover Police Department who fired their duty weapons will be placed on administrative duty pending a review of the investigation by the York County District Attorney's Office.