Wounded State Trooper Saved Lives After Ambush

A 61-year-old man shot and killed his neighbor in rural Pennsylvania Thursday and then ambushed first responders, wounding two state troopers and causing an EMT to crash a vehicle, police say. The attacker, who fired dozens of rounds from a semiautomatic weapon, was later killed by police.

• The boyfriend of the woman who was killed, Lori Wasko, called 911 from their home near Thompson to report that shots had been fired, state police Col. Christopher Paris said. Police did not say why the suspect, identified as Carmine Faino, decided to kill 57-year-old Wasko outside her home and then open fire on the others, the AP reports. Police said their homes were several hundreds of yards apart and Wasko had never interacted with Faino, reports the New York Times.

• Police said after shooting Troopers Joseph Perechinsky and William Jenkins, who were wearing ballistic vests, Faino shot a police drone from the sky while sitting next to a propane tank they feared could be used as a bomb.
• Perechinsky, with two chest wounds, commandeered a tractor-trailer that was driving by to block the roadway and prevent other motorists from driving into harm's way. He ordered the driver to "pull his semi rig across the roadway so that more people would not drive down that roadway and potentially be subjected to the fire," Paris said. Perechinsky was "still thinking at that point in time, after being shot twice in the chest, what can I do to secure this location? What can I do to make sure nobody else gets hurt?" Paris said.
• Faino also fired at an SUV operated by a responding emergency worker, Paris said, and the man was injured when that vehicle veered off the roadway. He was being treated for injuries, Paris said late Thursday.

• The wounded Perechinsky applied a tourniquet to Jenkins before two other troopers were able to help rescue them, Paris said. The troopers were flown to hospitals for medical care.
• The shooting happened about 5 miles north of the borough of Thompson, some 163 miles north of Philadelphia.
• Gov. Josh Shapiro called the two troopers heroes and said Perechinsky "saved lives." "He acted decisively. He acted thoughtfully. And the work he did today exemplifies the absolute best of the Pennsylvania State Police," Shapiro said.
• "He's beat up pretty good but he's going to be OK," Shapiro told WNEP after visiting Perechinsky in the hospital. "We were busting chops a little bit, which is always a good sign. When a cop can bust chops, that means he's going to be OK."