Armed man killed by police in hours-long standoff after officer was shot

POTTSTOWN, PA - Authorities confirmed that an armed man has been killed by police during an hours-long standoff after the suspect crashed his vehicle, fled the scene, shot a pursuing officer in the shoulder, and barricaded himself inside his home.

According to NBC10, the armed suspect has been identified as 25-year-old Andrew Jackson Ecker, of Pottstown. The incident began around 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 6th, when officers with the Pottstown Police Department (PPD) responded to a crash on Beech and North Mount Vernon streets.

Ecker, who was involved in the crash, fled the scene on foot after the responding officers found a gun inside the vehicle. The officers pursued Ecker as he ran to his home on Winding Road. Once he arrived at his home, Ecker pulled out a gun and fired multiple shots at the officers, shooting PPD Officer Caleb Whitney in the shoulder.

Authorities said that Officer Whitney was taken to the hospital in stable condition and was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. He was released later Sunday night. 

Officials said that Ecker barricaded himself inside the home. He did not respond to officers' verbal commands and multiple police departments as well as a SWAT Team arrived at the scene, leading to a standoff situation. With the help of his relatives, a SWAT negotiator established communication with Ecker, who refused to leave the house.

Hours later, around 10:45 p.m., Ecker was shot and killed. According to court records, Ecker has an extensive criminal history, including past charges of terroristic threats, weapons offenses, simple assault, and harassment. 

Ecker lived with his parents at the home where the standoff took place and he worked for his family's plumbing business. A neighbor, Hillary Lavender said, "I have seen like negative type of behavior from him. Not this drastic." Lavender said Ecker stopped by her home earlier on Sunday and asked for money.

While Lavender was at work at the time, she said both her son and her son's father were at the house when Ecker arrived. She said, "It's really scary. Especially when he shows up to your house like right before all this and he has a gun on his waistband. It's like, if my baby daddy would've let him in, you know, you never know what could've happened. So, I'm glad that he said, 'Get out of here.' And he did leave my house willingly. So yeah, it's all really terrifying."

Another neighbor, Lou Chillot, said at first he wasn't sure what was happening when he spotted police in the area. He said, "Not really knowing what was happening, I went out to put my garbage out and the police were down in the corner and said, 'Please get back in the house and barricade yourself.' I still didn't know anything."

It wasn't until the next day that Chillot found out his neighbor was dead. He said, "My heart and our prayers are for the family." According to CBS News, many people in the neighborhood knew the suspect, known as A.J., and his father, who runs the plumbing company.

Chillot said, "He'd come any time of the day, and the son, I didn't know him as well, but the son had been to my house three or four times doing plumbing work. Great kid, but he had problems, I assume." The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said that officers returned fire when Ecker shot at police earlier in the evening, but did not hit him. The investigation remains ongoing.