By David Hurst
The Tribune-Democrat
NEW FLORENCE, Pa. — A New Florence man is charged with homicide, accused of gunning down a St. Clair Township patrolman who was responding to a domestic dispute Saturday night at a borough residence.
Veteran patrolman Lloyd Reed Jr., 54, of Hollsopple, was wearing a bullet-proof vest at the time of the shooting but was struck at an angle where his body armor offered no protection, allowing a single shot to strike him in the chest, Cambria County Chief Deputy Coroner Jeffrey Lees said.
“The wound ... was unsurvivable,” said Lees, who pronounced Reed dead at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center’s trauma unit shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday night.
Online court records showed state police filed one count of criminal homicide against Ray Shetler Jr. early Sunday evening, at a time the man was recovering from a gunshot wound to the shoulder apparently sustained in a gunfire exchange with police at the Ligonier Street residence.
State Police said law enforcement officials were initially dispatched to the scene around 9 p.m. for reports that a man later identified as Shetler was in a dispute with a woman.
Trooper Stephen Limani, public relations officer for Pennsylvania State Police barracks in Greensburg, said Reed confronted the man and gunfire was exchanged.
Then Shetler took off, sparking a six-hour manhunt, Limani said.
Shetler was apprehended without incident after police found him walking along Power Plant Road near the Conemaugh Generating Station, Limani said.
At the time, police from across the region, search dogs and a helicopter were part of the massive search party.
New Florence Mayor Neva Gindlesperger described the moment as a tense, frightening situation that ended with a tragic result.
“This is Mayberry,” she said. “You hear about this kind of thing happening somewhere like Pittsburgh. But not here.”
Reed was patrolling the borough Saturday because New Florence is in the process of finalizing an agreement that will have St. Clair Township routinely patrol local streets, she said. For now, when New Florence borough officers are off-duty, there are times when St. Clair officers respond to calls, she said.
“Officer Reed was going to be the one normally patrolling our town,” she said. “We were just told he was going to be our officer.”
Reed was remembered Sunday by New Florence residents as one of their own.
A crowd of more than 60 filled one corner of Memorial Park for a vigil in Reed’s honor.
Candles, cards and crosses decorated a monument in the park, while a crowd huddled around the monument in silence, holding hands and flickering tea lights.
One by one, they approached the monument and left their candles behind.
Others left their candles alongside Reed’s police cruiser.
“Thank you for your service,” a handwritten note read.
New Florence Volunteer Assistant Fire Chief Ken Steiner called Reed a friendly, familiar face in the community “who was always willing to lend a hand.”
He recalled seeing Reed, in uniform, playing baseball with children at St. Clair Manor, a housing community where the police department’s substation is located.
“Lloyd was a great guy,” said St. Clair Township Supervisor Fred Clark.
He said Reed spent about five years with his department – and the Hollsopple man’s obituary said he spent years prior as a police officer for Seward, Hooversville and Seven Springs.
Reed dedicated much of his life to serving communities such as St. Clair Township. And he deserved a better fate, said Krysi Botteicher of Armagh.
“Small-town police officers deserve so much more respect than they get,” she said, hanging sparkling blue ornaments in Reed’s memory at Memorial Park, just minutes before the vigil. “They put their life on the line every day for a job that doesn’t pay much better than minimum wage.
“It’s tragic,” she said. “Just like that they can be taken from us – gone in a moment.”
Reed was honored statewide Sunday. Gov. Tom Wolf ordered flags at the Capitol and other state sites lowered to half-staff in memory of the Westmorleand County patrolman.
Reed’s funeral arrangements are being handled by the Harris Funeral Home in Richland. Reed’s obituary and St. Clair Township officials confirmed a public memorial service will be held Friday at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena.
It’s been 13 years since a local police officer was killed in the line of duty in the Greater Johnstown region. State police Trooper Joseph Sepp was shot and killed in November 2002 following a DUI stop-turned-police chase into Ebensburg.
Botteicher, an area native, and fellow local residents said it’s been decades – perhaps even 50 years – since a homicide last occurred in New Florence.
Copyright 2015 The Tribune-Democra