By Mark Scolford
Associated Press
WEST YORK, Pa. — A police officer who was shot to death while responding to an armed man with hostages inside a Pennsylvania hospital intensive care unit was remembered Friday as a dedicated public servant who did not hesitate to run toward danger and died a hero.
Hundreds of fellow officers and others filled the Living Word Community Church in Red Lion for the funeral of West York Police Officer Andrew W. Duarte.
West York Police Chief Matthew Millsaps said Duarte, 30, realized he had just been shot Saturday and made it to the safety of cover when he saw that a fellow officer was down and in what Millsaps described as a compromised position.
“Andrew’s last physical act on the face of this earth was to run back towards the threat area,” dragging the other officer to safety and holding his hand in comfort, Millsaps said, speaking in front of Duarte’s flag-draped coffin. “When they made it to cover, Andrew collapsed and died.”
Millsaps said Duarte had “put the mission first and he gave a damn. I only pray that I’ll go the same way.”
Duarte was the second or third officer to respond to the hostage situation at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York, Millsaps said. The attacker, Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz, 49, was killed and several others were wounded.
Hundreds of uniformed officers lined the road into the church, and a large flag was draped between the ladders on two fire trucks. Duarte’s family and fellow officers recalled his sense of humor, compassion, integrity and professional commitment.
Gov. Josh Shapiro called Duarte someone who always “got the job done and worked tirelessly to protect his community, to be a great colleague, and of course, to carry a great big stick. He was a good man and he was a good cop.”
At UPMC Memorial Hospital last weekend, Shapiro said, “he ran toward danger so his fellow citizens could understandably run away safely.”
Accounts of nurses who survived the attack have been shared in Facebook posts, disclosing details about their injuries and treatment and how the events have haunted those who lived through it.
York County District Attorney Tim Barker said Archangel-Ortiz appeared to have had recent contact with the intensive care unit “for a medical purpose involving another person” but didn’t elaborate.
Born in Oakland, California, Duarte had served on the West York police force since 2022. Before that, he spent five years with the Denver Police Department in Colorado, and served as a seasonal officer with the Ocean City Police Department in Maryland.
An obituary said he earned a degree in criminal justice and police science from California University of Pennsylvania. His interests included photography, guitar, hiking and traveling.
Survivors include his parents and his girlfriend.
