When state troopers Joseph Perechinsky and William Jenkins were tasked Thursday morning with checking on a call of shots fired at a home in rural northeastern Pennsylvania, they had no idea about the danger they were driving toward.
By the end of the day, both would be in a hospital recovering from gunshot wounds and praised as heroes while investigators recounted the details of an ambush and standoff that included the commandeering of a semi-truck, the shooting down of a drone and the fear of a propane tank being turned into a bomb.
When the troopers arrived at the scene on State Route 171 in Thompson Township, they were immediately attacked by a gunman with several rounds of rifle fire from a good distance, Pennsylvania State Police Col. Christopher Paris said, declining to say exactly how far away the gunman was when he opened fire. Both troopers were wounded.
“He was using a semi-automatic long gun from which he fired several dozen rounds through this incident.”
Prior to the troopers’ arrival, the suspect, Carmine Faino, 61, used a semiautomatic rifle to shoot and kill his neighbor, Laurie Wasko, 57, outside her home, Paris said.
Wasko’s longtime boyfriend who lived with her in the home – which sits across the two-lane road but several hundred yards away from Faino’s – reported the shooting around 11:17 a.m., prompting the troopers’ response, officials said.
Perechinsky was shot twice, in the chest and torso area. Jenkins was also shot twice – once in each arm. “Their cars, where they had arrived and gotten out of, were also riddled with gunfire,” Paris said.
“It’s been a tragic and harrowing day for the community here in Susquehanna County and the Pennsylvania State Police,” Paris told reporters Thursday.
As additional troopers and emergency responders rushed to the scene, Perechinsky managed to place a tourniquet on his fellow trooper’s arms.
One of the responders, an EMT in a quick response SUV, was shot at as he arrived, Paris said.
“He took evasive action and veered off the side of the roadway and crashed. … He was able to make it out of his vehicle and he actually hid for fear that (Faino) would continue firing upon him,” Paris said, noting the EMT was injured and in stable condition.
Once Perechinsky and Jenkins had been pulled away from the gunfire by other troopers, a severely injured Perechinsky managed to commandeer a passing semi-truck, ordering the driver to pull the rig across the roadway, blocking others from the danger, Paris said.
While working to establish a perimeter, law enforcement deployed a drone, which Faino “shot down actively with a firearm,” Paris said.
At one point during negotiations with law enforcement, Faino sat on a propane tank, which raised fears he had attempted to turn it into an improvised explosive device.
“We were concerned about other weapons, not only the weapon that he was using,” Paris said.
“After a period of attempting to negotiate with him, he continued to be a threat and he was shot by members of the Special Emergency Response Team,” the colonel said. “He is deceased.”
A motive for the incident wasn’t immediately shared by law enforcement.
Mike Cottrell, a resident of nearby Jackson Township, told CNN affiliate WNEP the police response was unprecedented in the rural area.
“I’ve never seen that many … An armored vehicle went by, and I’ve never seen that either, and I mean it’s just nonstop cops and ambulances going by,” Cottrell said.
‘They are very lucky to be alive’
The troopers’ response, particularly the actions of Perechinsky who continued to protect others despite being seriously wounded, has drawn praise from state officials, but the shooting resulting in the death of the armed suspect has prompted a formal investigation by the district attorney’s office on police use of force.
“We’re very lucky today with the two troopers,” Paris said as both were in stable condition Thursday night. “They are very lucky to be alive.”
Paris also said he knew the troopers “personally” and described them as “the best of who and what the state police are.”
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 added.
Perechinsky has been a trooper for six years and comes from a law enforcement family, with his father and brother both serving in Pennsylvania police departments, Paris said. Jenkins has been on the force for 10 years and is a father of four.
The district attorney’s office is conducting a use of force investigation, and the troopers who shot at Faino have been put on leave pending results, which is typical for the situation, Paris said.
Susquehanna County District Attorney Marion O’Malley said her office will be involved in the probe.
“My primary function here, given the fact that Mr. Faino is now deceased, will be to participate in the investigation and make the determination about the use of force in this case.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro, after visiting Perechinsky and Jenkins in the hospital, said both “represent the absolute best of the Pennsylvania State Police.”
“This morning, they went towards danger to keep our neighbors safe — and they saved lives by doing so. We owe them an immense debt of gratitude,” Shapiro said in a statement.
CNN’s Danny Freeman and Taylor Romine contributed to this report.
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