Police Officers Ambushed, Pregnant Woman Killed Near Pittsburgh

Another day, another ambush of police officers responding to a call for help.

A manhunt is underway in western Pennsylvania for the person who shot two police officers — killing one of them — in an early morning ambush-style attack, state police said.

The shooting happened in the town of Canonsburg, about 18 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, after the officers responded to a call about a domestic incident at 3:14 a.m. The officers were ambushed upon arrival “as soon as they approached the front of the residence,” a Pennsylvania State Police spokesperson said at a press conference this morning.

The injured officers were transported to local hospitals, and one of them has since died, according to state police. Their names have not been released.

State police described the incident as “an active situation” and did not provide any details on a possible suspect or whether anyone has been arrested. Some residents in the neighborhood have been asked to vacate their homes, while others have been ordered to stay inside. Canon-McMillan School District is closed for the day, and another local school has a delayed opening due to the shooting, according to state police.

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A man and a pregnant woman were later found dead in a murder-suicide inside a different home a half-mile away. While the story doesn’t make any direct claims, it seems reasonable to infer that pregnant woman made the early-morning 911 call for assistance as the male violated the protective order, and that the male ambushed the police officers who rushed to the scene in an effort to save her.

He then took the woman to the second location at gunpoint before killing her and taking his own life.

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Few things are more frustrating to deal with than the cycle of domestic abuse, and it infuriates me that so many people—including first responders called in to help—are killed because some weak, angry loser can’t deal emotionally with a failed relationship.

Restraining orders are typically useless in situations such as these, as the suspect is typically single-mindedly focused on hurting the person who is the object of his abuse, and cares nothing about his or her future. The only thing that consistently stops a violent abuser intent on committing an act of domestic violence is an armed defender.

Sadly, it does not appear that the pregnant victim in this case had ready access to a firearm when the suspect entered her home, and so she was not able to end the threat.

As a result, she died, her baby died, a responding police officer died, and another officer was wounded.

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You are your own first responder, folks. No one else is going to be able to defend you as well as you can.

Please get good training and arm yourself for your own protection.

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