Three police officers were shot dead and two more wounded Saturday as they responded to a domestic disturbance call at a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, home where a man wearing a bullet-proof vest opened fire, police said.
The officers had been called out to the house following reports of a disturbance, but came under fire from a man inside, triggering an hours-long standoff.
"Our hearts and our prayers go out to the officers who paid the ultimate sacrifice," Police Chief Nathan Harper said in a televised press conference.
"It's a very sad day for the city of Pittsburgh."
Harper said the shooter was a 23-year-old man who fired at officers several dozen times using a high-powered assault rifle before he was finally wounded and then surrendered.
"He had one assault rifle and one long-arm rifle as well as one pistol and a lot of ammo," Harper had said earlier.
The first officers where shot immediately upon entering the house, leading Harper to say he believed they were victims of a trap set by the gunman.
"As soon as the officer stepped through the doorway he was immediately met with gunfire," Harper said. He and a second officer who came through the doorway were both shot in the head.
The burst of violence comes just a day after a jobless immigrant stormed an immigrant services center where he had been learning English in Binghamton, New York and went on a murderous rampage, killing 13 people before shooting himself to death.
u dont like police 
BUY MY SIG - 50$/Year
Comment