An attempted traffic stop near Philadelphia led to an hours-long standoff that ended with one man dead and another in custody, authorities said Friday.
The incident began late Friday afternoon in Bensalem Township, about 20 miles northeast of Philly.
Officers from the Bensalem Police Department attempted to stop a vehicle for a “minor code violation” near the intersection of Route 1 and Old Lincoln Highway shortly before 5 p.m.
However, the driver, a 35-year-old male, refused to comply with orders and reportedly told officers that “he was armed and that he was not going back to jail,” according to a news release.
For approximately 45 minutes, officers attempted to deescalate the situation, repeatedly asking the driver and a passenger to exit the vehicle. But despite their efforts, they refused to do so and eventually fled the scene, prompting a car chase that also involved Pennsylvania State Police.
The vehicle was eventually surrounded by law enforcement at a gas station and forced to stop, William McVey, director of public safety of Bensalem Township, said at a news conference Friday night.
“At that point, we considered those two individuals armed and barricaded,” McVey said.
After two more hours of failed negotiations, Bensalem SWAT officers used tear gas in an attempt to get the two individuals to exit the vehicle. That’s when the driver “produced a handgun and was fired upon by our SWAT team,” according to McVey.
The driver was pulled from the vehicle and taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The passenger of the vehicle, who was unharmed, was taken into custody.
The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, which is leading the investigation, said it won’t release the names of any parties involved until the completion of the probe.
The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave “per policy” and will remain on leave until the attorney’s office completes its review.