In testimony yesterday during the Ray Shetler Jr. murder trial, state police detailed the scene of the shooting of Saint Clair Township Police Officer Lloyd Reed Jr., who was fatally shot in a confrontation outside the New Florence home of Shetler’s girlfriend, Kristen Luther, on November 28th, 2015.
Police found ten rounds of ammunition that had been fired during a gun battle between Shetler and Reed. Seven of them came from police service revolvers, three from Shetler’s high-powered rifle. Reed is believed to have fired six shots, with the seventh from fellow police officer Justin Dickert. One shot from Reed ended up hitting some playground equipment in a nearby yard and another in a bicycle helmet in a shed at a day care center across Ligonier Street. One of Shetler’s shots went through a neighbor’s window and lodged in a wall.
Paramedics who treated Shetler for a shoulder wound said that he showed no remorse for the shooting and said he wished he had run into more troopers, lamenting that he ran out of ammo. He also claimed he didn’t know Reed was a police officer, but thought he was a trespasser, and he had a right to shoot.
Officer Reed had been called by Luther to the home on a domestic violence complaint. He encountered Shetler outside the home and the two exchanged gunfire after Shetler ignored commands to drop his rifle.
Day Four of the trial is today in Westmoreland County Court.
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