2 Dead In Shooting During Pa. Township Meeting

NBC News

The Monroe County coroner's office told NBC News two people were killed in a shooting Monday evening in Ross Township, Pa.

By M. Alex Johnson, Staff Writer, NBC News

A gunman opened fire at a town supervisors meeting Monday night north of Pittsburgh, killing at least two people, before he was tackled by a local official and shot with his own weapon, authorities told NBC News. Five other people were injured, including the gunman.
Gunshots were reported at 7:23 p.m. ET at the regular monthly meeting of the Ross Township supervisors in Monroe County, Pa., Jeffrey Strunk, a spokesman for the county coroner's office, told NBC News.

Monroe County Emergency Management Director Guy Miller told NBC Philadelphia that the gunman, who appeared to be "shooting randomly,'' was in state police custody at a local hospital, which was on lockdown.

Chris Reber, a reporter for The Pocono Record who was attending the meeting, told his newspaper that the gunman shot through the wall from another room in the Municipal Building.
Bernie Kozen, executive director of the township's West End Open Space Commission, tackled the gunman and turned the gun onto the man, Reber said.

"I ran out after the first round of shooting. I dropped to the floor. That's what everyone did," Reber said.

"It was automatic, like a string of firecrackers. That's what everyone said.
"Then it stopped and I crawled out the side door."
NBC station WBRE of Wilkes-Barre reported that state troopers had secured a local home and were waiting for a search warrant. Troopers wouldn't confirm whether the home is that of the suspected gunman.