Gunfire from Pennsylvania Hospital Shooting Killed Officer, District Attorney Says
Andrew Duarte, an officer with the West York Borough Police Department (WYBPD), was killed in the shooting at UPMC Memorial Hospital in Pennsylvania on Feb. 22
York County District Attorney Tim Barker shared new details about his death in a press conference on April 30
The gunman, Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz, was fatally shot 15 to 20 times
New details have been revealed about the death of Andrew Duarte, the officer who was killed at UPMC Memorial Hospital in Pennsylvania after a gunman opened fire and held staff hostage in February.
The borough of West York previously announced on Facebook that Andrew Duarte, an officer with the West York Borough Police Department (WYBPD), was killed in the shooting.
Police officers, one from Springettsbury Township and the other from Northern York County Regional Police Department, were injured during the Feb. 22 incident, as well as a deputy sheriff from the sherrif's department, York County District Attorney Tim Barker said during a press conference on Wednesday, April 30. Three hospital staff members were wounded.
During the press conference, Barker said Duarte was killed in the line of duty by gunfire intended for the gunman Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz.
Barker said that hospital staff and police were unaware that Archangel-Ortiz's stolen 9mm Taurus pistol was already out of ammunition after he pointed his firearm at a worker at approximately 11:11 a.m.
While it was unknown at the time if Archangel-Ortiz had any additional rounds, police say he then grabbed another worker at gunpoint at approximately 11:13 a.m., and "exited the main door of the ICU."
"The officers that were in their tactical positions, immediately created a reactionary gap and backed up in order to take full recognition, and to make full determinations of the hostage situation that was in front of them," he said.
That is when officers from both sides of the doorway began to open fire.
After officers began shooting from the left side, those on the right side proceeded to shoot, and one of those bullets fired from an "officer who was positioned closest to the wall on the right side" struck Archangel-Ortiz on the "back upper shoulder area on the left side."
The hostage was not struck, although some of the bullets also hit the wall. One projectile, however, did hit an officer who was holding a shield in "his right hand and traveled into his arm."
"At that pointer Officer Andrew Duarte is diagonal and slightly behind to the officer with the shield. He is turned slightly to the left," said Barker.
"Two shots strike Officer Duarte. One shot strikes him in the left arm and goes across his chest. The other strikes him at the left side chest area, at the mesh area where his tactical protective vest would not have coverage, and strikes him at the mesh and goes across his chest," he said.
A third officer on the left side was also then struck in the leg by another shot.
Barker said that Archangel-Ortiz was fatally shot 15 to 20 times, but that it was difficult to be precise given the nature of the injuries. His death was ruled a homicide as a result of multiple gunshot wounds, per WGAL.
He also said that after Duarte declared that he was struck, he attempted to help the officer who was struck from the leg down.
"That officer at this point is now being pulled by another officer," said Barker. "Officer Duarte leans over to the officer who is down and now is starting to be moved. Officer Duarte then, after leaning down towards that officer, succumbs to his injuries and collapses to the ground."
Archangel-Ortiz's firearm was found and collected by another officer who discovered it was "unloaded at that time."
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
"Again, as I stated previously, this fact was unknown to any officer and was unknown to the health care workers who were inside the ICU," said Barker.
Read the original article on People
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Drink driver jailed for causing three-car crash
A drink driver who was almost twice the legal limit when he caused a three-car crash that left a motorist seriously injured has been jailed for two and a half years. Brandon Barker, 26, lost control of his van after he clipped another car as he tried to overtake a lorry on a blind sweeping bend on the A15 near Hackthorn, Lincolnshire, in July 2024. Lincoln Crown Court heard Barker, of Wolsey Way, Lincoln, remained on the wrong side of the road before colliding head-on with a Mini leaving the 22-year-old driver with "catastrophic injuries". Barker, who admitted a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, has also been banned from driving for 39 months. Two other cars were also forced off the road during the crash, which happened at about 06:30 BST on 2 July, the court heard. Judge James House KC was told the 22-year-old driver required two operations afer suffering multiple fractures and bruising to his brain. When interviewed by police, Barker accepted he had been drinking the night before the collision but said his driving had not been impaired, the court heard. A toxicology report concluded he was at least nearly twice the legal limit at the time of the crash and an investigation found he had also sent a text message while driving, the judge was told. In mitigation, Neil Sands described Barker as a "decent young man" who had no previous convictions. Passing sentence, Judge House told the defendant he had no doubt his judgement had been impaired by alcohol. "You knew you were late for work, you had sent a text to that effect," the judge added. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. HM Courts & Tribunals Service
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Yahoo
Nonprofit founder who trained Maine's first comfort dogs mourns his loss
May 30—Maine's first comfort dog, Baxter, had been rescued as a puppy and bottle-fed by volunteers for a nonprofit in New Hampshire that pairs trained dogs with veterans and first responders. "We're heartbroken," the organization's founder, Laura Barker, said in an interview on Friday, a day after the Maine Department of Public Safety announced Baxter had been found dead in a state vehicle. "We know that Baxter was loved his whole time on Earth," Barker said. "He also helped a lot of people while he was here." Barker said she and her colleagues are still in shock at the loss, and are confident that the department will conduct a thorough investigation. It's still unclear exactly what led to Baxter's death. The 3-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever had been working as a comfort dog for dispatchers under the Maine Bureau of Emergency Communications since he was introduced to the state in the fall of 2022. A spokesperson for the department said he was found dead Wednesday afternoon after the vehicle "unexpectedly" shut off while he was inside. The vehicle was parked at the communications center in Bangor, where the National Weather Service recorded temperatures up to 82 degrees that afternoon. Shannon Moss, a spokesperson for DPS, said she could not answer questions about the type of vehicle and how long the dog was left inside. She confirmed that Brodie Hinckley, the director of the Bureau of Emergency Communications, had been Baxter's handler. Hinckley did not respond to requests for an interview on Friday. Moss did not answer follow up questions asking if Hinckley was placed on leave. Some newer vehicles have an auto shut-off feature, where the engine is disabled after a certain amount of time if it's left running while parked. In recent years, some police departments have purchased technology that will alert officers if the car shuts off or gets too hot. The Humane World for Animals, formerly known as the Humane Society, notes that temperatures inside a car can rise rapidly in minutes. Even with the windows opened slightly, temperatures can reach 102 degrees within 10 minutes on an 85 degree day, according to Humane World. Baxter was trained through Hero Pups and AT&T FirstNet paid for the dog's vet visits and supplies before he joined the bureau in 2022, according to Hero Pups and the Department of Public Safety. Barker, Hero Pups founder, said Baxter's DPS handler took care of him full-time after his first birthday, but he came back to the New Hampshire non-profit occasionally for training. She encouraged the public to wait to hear all of the details before assuming what happened. Copy the Story Link We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others. We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion. You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs. Show less
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Yahoo
Ma Barker: Infamous Missouri-born crime matriarch
(KODE & KSN) — Ash Grove, Missouri was the birthplace of the person J. Edgar Hoover once called 'one of the most vicious, dangerous, and resourceful criminal minds of the last century'. If you're not familiar with the name Ma Barker, upon hearing it, you may be met with mental images of an 'old-time', matronly woman in an apron, standing by a linoleum countertop, plate of buttermilk biscuits in hand, with a mild, yet warm smile on her face. Decades of pop culture conditioning from art and commercialism often paint this stereotype of southern women of a certain timeframe, and while some say there was some truth to it in the case of Ma Barker, many have said Ma Barker was anything but the case. Some say the true image of crime matriarch Ma Barker is one that mirrors Bonnie Parker (of Bonnie and Clyde): Tommy guns, car chases, robberies, kidnappings, and a penchant for defying authority to the end, and instilled this nature on her many sons – men born and raised to live the lifestyle she relished – and one that helped Barker carryout her antics. So, which picture most accurately represents the truth of Ma Barker's life? Historians say the truth is likely somewhere in the middle. Records indicate 'Ma' Barker was born in 1873 to John and Emaline Clark in Ash Grove, Missouri. According to Britannica, her name at birth was Arizona Donnie Clark, but she'd later be known as Kate Barker, after marrying George Barker when she was 19, giving birth to four sons in the marriage: future criminals Herman (1893-1927), Lloyd (1897-1949), Arthur (1899-1939), and Fred (1901-1935). The oldest of which was just 52 years of age. Historians say the Barker family was against conventional education and that most of them were 'more or less illiterate', but the family had common sense and was resourceful: some of Barker's sons were committing their crimes before even having reached adolescence. The first known arrest came in 1910, when Herman Barker was arrested and charged after running over a child with a getaway car during a highway robbery. Over the course of the 1910s and 1920s, the brothers would commit increasingly worse crimes from simple robberies to organized crime with the Central Park Gang. The first family tragedy came in 1927 when eldest son Herman Barker took his own life to avoid being caught by authorities. They say he was being pursued after shooting a policeman in the mouth during a robbery. During this time, the Barker marriage would fall apart as Ma Barker is described to have become 'loose with local men' and her wild antics in public were said to have alienated her tamer husband. More trouble came for the family in 1931, when they were forced to flee Missouri after the sons killed Sheriff C. Roy Kelly in West Plains, Missouri. The family relocated to areas in Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, with Ma Barker sometimes being hidden in hotel rooms away from her sons due to her penchant for attempting to scare off their girlfriends. In 1935, authorities successfully arrested Arthur Barker in Chicago, and from his possessions, were able to obtain the knowledge that Ma Barker and her youngest son Fred, along with other gangmembers were hiding out in Florida. According to the Florida Sheriff's Association, when authorities surrounded the house, reports indicate they were not aware the two Barkers were the only occupants. A gunfight broke out, lasting several hours, so long that historians say locals brought picnic lunches to watch the events transpire. The gunfight ended when Fred Barker was shot multiple times and Ma Barker was taken down with a single gunshot. Her body was allegedly found gripping a Tommy gun, her final moment a symbol of her legacy of crime in the 'public enemy era', though other reports say it was simply lying near her body. The question is, how much was Ma Barker actually involved in gang activity and her children's crimes? The answer you get will vary depending on the source. As previously mentioned, officials like famed FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover once called Ma Barker a 'criminal mastermind', while some historians, as well as the testimonies of the sons that survived her and fellow gang members, indicate Ma Barker was less involved in the crimes and more of a supporting figure. It is known that Ma Barker never killed anyone herself and was often not present for the actual crimes that her sons committed. While Hollywood adaptations of the Barker family story like 'Ma Barker's Killer Brood' (1960) and 'Bloody Mama' (1970) depict Barker as a brutal, bloodthirsty criminal, smugly blasting a tommy gun with a defiant glare, it is more likely, according to historians, that these adaptations were mostly, if not entirely fictional, and some may go as far to say that Barker was painted as a figurehead by the FBI at the time to publicly justify her killing, but this is disputed. The whole truth of the Ma Barker story will probably never be truly known, but it is always true that Kate 'Ma' Barker is one infamous Missourian that will always be remembered as a woman who paid no mind to conforming to authority, and lived a wild, adventure filled life of crime in an era when such lifestyle was mainly associated with men. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
