Police Officer Shot In Beaver County, Suspect Sought
HARMONY TOWNSHIP (KDKA) - Police are searching for a man who shot a police officer early Wednesday morning in Beaver County.
According to police, the shooting happened around 3:45 a.m., in the area of Beaver and Harmony Roads in Harmony Township.
Police say the officer was on patrol when he saw the suspect trying to break into cars on Beaver Road.
The officer was to radio in a better location once he got closer, but that never happened. Instead, he was hit.
"There was some muffled sound, we heard shots fired and the location hadn't been given out yet. So multiple local [police departments] responded to that," State Police Lt. Eric Hermick said.
The officer was still in his patrol car. Fortunately, he was wearing a bulletproof vest when the bullets hit his chest area, and wasn't seriously injured.
The officer has been identified as Alan Loskoch.
Loskoch fired as many as five rounds at the suspect, but it's not known if the suspect was hit.
"We haven't seen any physical evidence to indicate that he has been wounded, but it was heavy rain at the time of the incident, so there wouldn't be any way to track that," Lt. Hermick said.
The suspect left the scene on foot. A witness told police he was still armed.
"We have indication from a witness that saw him running south from this location with a gun in his hand. So, he was still actively on foot and able to run if he had a gun in his hand," Lt. Hermick said.
Officials say a police officer from Conway was the first to arrive on the scene and found Loskoch unconscious behind the wheel of his patrol car.
The suspect is described as a light-skinned African-American male, standing 6 feet tall with 3 to 4-inch dreadlocks.
Police locked down the neighborhood and notified local schools as they searched for the suspect. At daybreak, they began going door-to-door, not knowing where the suspect could be.
"We have multiple K-9 teams out here that are checking in various locations. We are going door-to-door," Lt. Hermick said.
It's a search that state police said won't end, until a suspect is in custody.
"We're going to find him, there's no doubt. We're not going to stop until we do. You have an individual that tried to kill a police officer in a small town like this. If you're going to shoot a police officer, you're going to shoot anybody and that's the attitude we take toward these investigations," Lt. Hermick said.
A $15,000 reward is now being offered for information leading the arrest of the suspect.
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