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Video: Pa. Man Killed Tried to Run Over Officers, Posted Online Threats

Police in suburban Philadelphia said late Tuesday that they had shot and killed a man who attempted to run down officers in his car after they tried to arrest him for making threats against law enforcement.

December 31, 2014
Video: Pa. Man Killed Tried to Run Over Officers, Posted Online Threats

 

2 min to read


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Police in suburban Philadelphia said late Tuesday that they had shot and killed a man who attempted to run down officers in his car after they tried to arrest him for making threats against law enforcement.

WTXF reported that police had identified the man as Joseph Pacini, 52, of Clifton Heights, Pa. Authorities said that Pacini had posted a video on social media threatening to kill police and FBI agents. The station reported that police had obtained an arrest warrant in relation to the threats and SWAT teams were en route to Pacini's apartment to serve it when he left in his car at around 4 p.m. local time.

Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said that officers stopped Pacini at an intersection in the town and ordered him out of his car. Instead of complying, Pacini backed into the Clifton Heights police chief's car and then prepared to run over other officers.

Chitwood said the officers feared Pacini would kill them and they "did what they had to do." He said five officers fired at the man and no officers were injured.

Pacini's death comes a little more than a week after a man who made similar threats shot two New York Police Department officers dead in their patrol car and then killed himself in a subway station.

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