Rural Pennsylvania man kills neighbor and wounds responding troopers in gunfire ambush, police say

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 while firing dozens of rounds from a semiautomatic weapon, police said. The attacker 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.

Police said after shooting troopers Joseph Perechinsky and William Jenkins, 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.

“I don’t want to speak to his motive leading up to this. I would say you can draw certain conclusions from the standpoint that we believe Faino shot our victim prior to our arrival and then from a position of tactical advantage fired dozens and dozens of rounds,” Paris said.

Investigators are looking into Faino’s past, Paris said. He was Wasko’s across-the-street neighbor, living several hundred yards (meters) away.

Both troopers, who had been wearing ballistic vests, were in stable condition with serious injuries Thursday night and “are very lucky to be alive,” Paris said.

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.

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.

Faino had a rifle and did not comply with demands, a state police statement said. He was “ultimately shot and killed during the incident,” police said.

The shooting happened about 5 miles (8 kilometers) north of the borough of Thompson, some 163 miles (262 kilometers) north of Philadelphia.

Erika Mills, who lives less than a mile from where the shootings took place, said it made for a terrifying day in a community that is usefully peaceful.

“This is a very very quiet town. There has never been anything comparable,” she said.