14 Years Later: Remembering fallen Pittsburgh Police officers Paul Sciullo, Stephen Mayhle, and Eric Kelly
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Fourteen years ago today, three Pittsburgh Police officers paid the ultimate sacrifice and were shot and killed in the line of duty while responding to a domestic call in the city's Stanton Heights neighborhood.
It was an early Saturday morning on April 4, 2009, when officers were dispatched to Fairfield Street.
Officers Paul Sciullo and Stephen Mayhle were both ambushed when responding to the call at the home. Another officer, Eric Kelly, was shot while responding to the scene and attempting to help his fellow officers who had been wounded.
A standoff with the suspect, Richard Poplawski, lasted several hours following the ambush. Two other officers were wounded.
Poplawski was convicted of three counts of first-degree homicide and was sentenced to death by lethal injection. He remains on death row after a stay of execution was issued in 2017.
