Off-Duty Police Officer Shot, Killed In His Pennsylvania Home

Darby Township, Pennsylvania, police say that an off-duty officer has been shot and killed in his Delaware County home.

According to CBS Philly, police responded to a call reporting shots fired at the officer’s home in Darby Township at approximately 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. The 26-year-old off-duty officer was found in an upstairs bedroom with a single gunshot wound to his chest. He was rushed to Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia, and was later pronounced dead from the wound.

Neighbors told NBC10 that police had been called to the home several times in the past for domestic disputes between the officer and his girlfriend. Reportedly, an argument was heard coming from inside the house before the shooting. A woman, who neighbors identified as the officer’s girlfriend, was at the home when police arrived and was taken away in handcuffs and questioned.

The officer’s mother has requested that police not release his name yet, as several members of the family have not been notified of his death.

The investigation continues, but little information has been released on the shooting. Darby Township Police Chief Len McDevitt Jr. declined to say the shooting was a domestic incident, because he did not have all the facts yet. However, detectives processing the scene have recovered a gun, and McDevitt hinted they had a suspect.

“There is no danger to the public and there is no one on the loose,” he said.

According to police, no one had been taken into custody, but they were not searching for a suspect. Authorities also said that homicide charges are pending, but none have been filed yet.

There was no indication that the officer’s death was a part of the recent cop killings — such as this Florida shooting reported in December by the Inquisitr — that have occurred since the police officer who shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, was cleared of all charges in the shooting.

Darby Borough Police Chief Robert Smythe says that the officer had worked for his department for four years, and was a “shining star in the department.”

“An even tempered nice guy,” he said. “Anybody that met him had a good word for him.”

“We lost a member of our family unnecessarily,” Smythe said.

The officer had worked part-time for the Darby Borough police department, and had also been a volunteer firefighter in the borough of Yeadon for 10 years. Smythe told NBC10 he had planned to recommend him for full-time duty due to the quality of his work.

[Image via Larry W. Smith/Getty Images]