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Gunman shoots four at Pa. magistrate’s office

SCENE — Pennsylvania State troopers stand near a door that was damaged Wednesday afternoon in a shooting incident at the Masontown, Pa., office of Magisterial District Judge Daniel Shimshock. -- Michael Palm

MASONTOWN, Pa. — The man who shot four people at the office of a Fayette County, Pa., magistrate was facing charges of strangulation and assault in relation to an August domestic violence incident.

State police and District Attorney Rich Bower did not identify the man, but said he was shot and killed by a German Township police officer after he opened fire at the Masontown office of Magisterial District Judge Daniel Shimshock just after 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Bower said there were dozens of cases scheduled at Shimshock’s office, mostly preliminary hearings.

Police officers, prosecution and defense attorneys, witnesses and others were in the building when the man started shooting. He credited the action of four police officers, including Masontown police Sgt. R. Scott Miller, who was shot, for their swift action in stopping what could have been a major tragedy.

“In this case, as is so often the case, a German Township police officer ran toward danger, not away,” Bower said. “He protected 30 to 40 people from danger or death.”

Police said Miller was in the lobby of the office when the man came in holding a handgun, and tried to stop him. The gunman shot Miller in the hand. He sustained injuries that were not life-threatening. Police said the man shot two other men and one woman, but would not say if any were related to the criminal case lodged against him.

Three German Township police officers — Chief David Hromada, Officer Tom O’Barto and the officer who fatally wounded the gunman — ran to help, Bower said. He called them and Miller “heroes.”

“That’s what these people do every day of their lives,” he said. “These police officers and these emergency management people risk their lives every day going out. Today, they were all shining lights to our community. It goes without saying, but we must thank them for their heroic efforts in protecting everyone in that room. They all did their duty.”

Police specified that neither Shimshock nor his staff or any attorneys at the office were believed to be targets of the shooter.

Hromada said the shooting left him with mixed emotions, but said he was thankful no other lives were lost.

“It’s unfortunate that someone lost their life, but I’m proud of my officer and I think everyone did what they were trained to do,” he said.

Witnesses were frenzied following the shooting, clustering in a few spots of shade to reflect on their close encounters and await interviews with state police.

An 8-year-old girl, Kylie Martelli, had just stepped out of the bathroom into the building’s lobby when the shooting started.

“I heard shooting and I didn’t know if I was OK,” she said. “I was more concerned about my mom.”

The shooter shoved her mom, Ashley Martelli, to the floor, the woman said. He pointed a gun at the girl’s dad, Bill Gaebler.

“I told him, ‘I ain’t do nothing, sir,'” Gaebler said. “He said, “I’m not after you. I’m after my wife.’ That’s when I heard glass breaking and everything. I laid down on the ground and made sure I wasn’t shot.”

A woman, Verna Ash, saw the girl walk out of the bathroom, grabbed her hand and pulled her outside.

When she saw the girl, she immediately thought of her 7-year-old daughter.

“There was no split second to think about it,” Ash said. “I grabbed her hand and dragged her out of there.”

The girl said the bathroom was covered in blood, though she was not sure where it came from.

“I was never around something like this before,” she said while hugging her tiny arms around her small body.

Ash said she saw the shooter come in through the parking lot, shoot a woman through the lobby’s double doors and then shoot a man in the arm.

Martelli said she heard the man fire shots, then reload.

“I was just trying to find my kid,” she said. “I was screaming bloody murder.”

She found her hiding behind a car.

Gary David was waiting for a friend when he saw a man get shot.

“Somebody said, ‘Run!’ and I took off running,” he said.

David fled with a group of people into the municipal office, where they huddled on the floor until police informed them the scene was secured.

Jackie Gardner said she was getting ready to go inside when she heard gunshots and saw a woman run. She said blood was “everywhere.”

“I’ve just been praying ever since it started,” she said.

Bower said security at magisterial district courts and county courthouses is a concern.

“You’re never going to stop everything, but the problem is that a person can walk into any of these district judge’s courtrooms,” Bower said.

The building in which Shimshock’s office is housed also holds the borough’s municipal office. The borough’s police office is downstairs. Visitors to the building enter through glass front doors into a small lobby before going to either the borough or magistrate’s office on the main floor.

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