Shooting people is a proud American tradition in a country born in violence and out of violence. A mass killing is only good under the benevolent flutter of the Stars and Stripes. Nowadays, the pride in mass shootings is celebrated by hoisting flags and having deep fireside discussions about WHO/WHAT is actually doing the killing: is it a human? or a human's finger? or perhaps a brain synapse? or the gun itself? or maybe the bullet granted free will by God himself, in whom we of course trust? These are deep quantum philosophical questions that Americans have been having ever since the fanatic pre-MAGA pilgrims set foot in Plymouth.
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3 police officers killed and 2 injured in rural Pennsylvania shooting
MARYCLAIRE DALE, MARC LEVY AND MARK SCOLFORO
Updated Thu, September 18, 2025APTOPIX Pennsylvania Shooting - People salute as an ambulance drives past during a procession Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Spring Grove, Pa., after multiple police officers were shot and killed. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NORTH CODORUS, Pa. (AP) — Three police officers were fatally shot and two wounded Wednesday in southern Pennsylvania, and the shooter was killed by police, authorities said.
The officers were at the scene, amid rolling farmland, to follow up on a domestic-related investigation that began the previous day.
“This is an absolutely tragic and devastating day," Gov. Josh Shapiro said at a news conference. “We grieve the loss of life of three precious souls who served this county, who served this Commonwealth, who served this country.”
“This kind of violence is not OK. We need to do better as a society," Shapiro said.
It was one of the deadliest days for Pennsylvania police this century. In 2009 three Pittsburgh officers responding to a domestic disturbance were ambushed and shot to death by a man in a bulletproof vest.
Condolences began pouring in from police departments across the region on social media and people began leaving flowers at the headquarters of the Northern York Regional Police Department.
“The grief will be unbearable but we will bear it,” said Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris, who pledged a full, fair investigation.
Dozens of police and emergency vehicles with their lights flashing formed a procession to the coroner's office. People lined the road holding American flags and saluted as it passed.
The shooting erupted in the area of North Codorus Township, about 115 miles (185 km) west of Philadelphia, not far from the Maryland line, authorities said.
Dirk Anderson, a farmer who lives across a two-lane country road from the scene, said he was in his shop “when we heard shots,” which he described as “quite a few.” He saw a helicopter arrive and a large police vehicle response.
The two injured officers were in critical but stable condition at York Hospital, authorities said.
Authorities did not identify the shooter, the officers or which police department they belonged to, or describe the circumstances of how they were shot, citing the ongoing investigation.
Shapiro said he and other officials met with the slain officers' families, who, while grieving, took the time to say how proud they were of their loved ones.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi called the violence against police “a scourge on our society." She said federal agents were on the scene to support local officers.
The emergency response unfolded on a rural road in south-central Pennsylvania. Officers were keeping people well back from the scene, with some 30 police vehicles blocking off roads bordered by a barn, a goat farm and soybean and corn fields.
Another officer in the area was killed in February, when a man armed with a pistol and zip ties entered a hospital’s intensive care unit and took staff members hostage before a shootout that left both the suspect and an officer dead.
“We need to do better as a society,” Shapiro said. "We need to help the people who think that picking up a gun, picking up a weapon is the answer to resolving disputes. We need do better when it comes to mental health.
"We need to do better when it comes to looking out for those who are in need so we don’t have to deal with tragedies like this,” he said.
Associated Press reporters Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine; Kimberlee Kruesi in Providence, Rhode Island and Michael Casey in Boston, contributed to this report. Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Dale from Philadelphia.
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WGN Chicago
Lincoln Middle School assistant principal among 3 killed in shooting near school Tuesday, district superintendent says
Michael Johnson
Wed, September 17, 2025
BERWYN, Ill. — The assistant principal of a middle school in west suburban Berwyn and her mother are among three people killed in a shooting near the school Tuesday afternoon.
Nerissa Lee, assistant principal at Lincoln Middle School, was killed in the shooting that happened near the school around 4 p.m., according to a post shared by Superintendent Dr. Michelle Smith on Berwyn North School District 98’s social media and distributed district-wide.
Loved ones identified the second victim as 76-year-old Joycelyn Everage, the mother of Lee, who was in the car with her at the time of the shooting.
Cook County authorities identified the alleged gunman as 54-year-old Steven Lee, the husband of Nerissa Lee. Berwyn police say he is the gunman who fatally shot himself after shooting Lee and Everage in what Berwyn police said appeared to be a domestic-related incident.
The district said Tuesday that none of the individuals killed was a student at Lincoln Middle School, which was closed Wednesday in the wake of the shooting.
Classes will resume at the school on Thursday, according to Smith’s statement, which reads:
“It is with great sadness that I announce to you that Nerissa Lee, Assistant Principal at Lincoln Middle School, lost her life in (Tuesday’s) tragic shooting that occurred outside Lincoln.
“Instruction at Lincoln will resume (Thursday) and counselors will be available. The wellbeing of our students and staff remains a priority. As a reminder, this was a domestic violence incident and there is no ongoing threat to the school community.
“Thank you for your support in this difficult time.”
Officials with Berwyn police said officers heard gunfire near Lincoln Middle School just after 4 p.m. Tuesday. The school day had ended, but many students and staff were still present when the shooting began.
Upon their arrival, officers witnessed a male suspect firing a rifle into a vehicle just outside the school. Both Lee and Everage were slain inside the car.
Officials said responding officers came under fire from the suspect and took cover, but police did not return fire before the gunman then shot and killed himself.
‘Didn’t want to overstep’
Shana Everage says her sister and brother-in-law had been having domestic-related issues since June, with an altercation involving a weapon occurring as recently as the night of Monday, Sept. 15.
“They’re my family. It’s a horrible thing. I have a lot of emotions, I don’t know what to feel,” she said.
Speaking outside her home to WGN-TV on Wednesday, Shana Everage said her mother was picking Lee up from Lincoln Middle School to take her to the police station to file a report moments before the shooting.
“I know my mother loved me and my sister, and she wanted the best for her regarding this situation,” Everage said. “It was also difficult for her. She was trying to give my sister time to get it together, which apparently didn’t happen. She didn’t want to overstep any boundaries. Even though it was her mom, my sister was still grown. She wanted to step back to let her figure this out.”
According to Everage, she was supposed to ride with her mother to pick up her sister, but received a phone call from her old Sunday school teacher and decided to stay home. She laments that she likely would have been inside the vehicle when the deadly shooting occurred.
“We talked, and I guess it was actually having been on the phone with her, and I talked so much to the point where my mother was already proceeding to leave, and I was just like, ‘Naw, I’m not going to even go.’ But I guess it was a good thing because in the end, I probably would not be here.”
Reflecting on her sister’s tenure at Lincoln Middle School, Shana Everage revealed that Lee served as assistant principal for the last two years after teaching for several years and loved her job
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