Additional criminal charges have been filed against Miguel Angel Rodriguez for shooting numerous times at officers responding to a report of a shooting in the 2000 block of Swarr Run Road in East Hempfield Township on September 11, 2022.  Responding officers were informed that Rodriguez had called a friend and showed the friend a deceased victim via a video chat. Three East Hempfield Officers who responded and attempted to make entry were met with gunfire. 

Miguel Angel Rodriguez, 38, was previously charged with Homicide for shooting and killing his girlfriend in the Swarr Run apartment.  The Pennsylvania State Police filed additional charges on October 19, 2022, charging Rodriguez with three counts of Attempted Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer, and multiple counts of Aggravated Assault and Recklessly Endangering Another Person for firing approximately 85 shots both inside and outside the apartment after officers responded to the scene.  Preliminary hearings in both cases are scheduled for November 4, 2022.  Rodriguez is presumed innocent.   

District Attorney Heather Adams has also announced the conclusion of the review of an officer involved shooting during the hours’ long stand-off.  A responding officer who shot at Rodriguez was justified, District Attorney Adams ruled, in using deadly force as the subject clearly placed officers in danger of death or serious bodily injury when he exited the apartment with a loaded semi-automatic rifle at a 90-degree angle and began turning toward the officers direction. 

The non-fatal shot fired by the officer hit the suspect in the chest and travelled through his right armpit.  Rodriguez eventually surrendered and was taken into custody and escorted to an ambulance.  Rodriguez is now being held at Lancaster County prison without bail. 

A review of the evidence gathered by the Pennsylvania State Police indicated that Rodriguez discharged multiple firearms from inside his apartment in the 2000 block of Swarr Run Road as police tried to make entry to check on the welfare of the victim after being dispatched for a shooting.  This resulted in a nearly 5-hour standoff with the suspect. 

The Lancaster County Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) responded at approximately 2:30 AM and was also met with gunfire from within the apartment. 

At one point during the standoff, Rodriguez opened the door of the apartment holding a semi-automatic rifle.  A SERT officer heard Rodriguez rack the firearm – meaning a round was loaded into the firing chamber.  The officer also observed the rifle at a 90-degree angle and saw the magazine extending from the bottom of the rifle and indicated that the suspect appeared ready to shoot.  During this brief appearance, Rodriguez began to slowly turn toward the position of the SERT officers.  Fearing for personal safety and the lives of fellow SERT officers in the line of fire, the SERT officer discharged one round from his rifle at Rodriguez to stop the imminent threat to life that he posed.  Rodriguez’s body was not fully in the doorway at that moment.  The shot struck Rodriguez in the chest and travelled across his chest and into his left arm just below the armpit.  Rodriguez dropped the rifle he was holding and retreated into the apartment.   

In accordance with internal policy, the District Attorney’s Office will not name the officer as he is not being charged with any crime.

SERT negotiators communicated with the defendant and encouraged him to surrender peacefully.  Eventually, six rounds of gas were deployed inside of the residence.  After the gas was deployed Rodriguez came to the front door and exited the residence but briefly went back into the residence before exiting again and surrendering.  He was taken into custody by members of SERT at approximately 6:27 AM.  The rifle he displayed at the time he was shot was recovered at the threshold of the doorway. 

Officers who entered the residence observed numerous spent shell casings of various calibers, bullet holes in the walls and ceilings as well as additional weapons and ammunition.  A deceased female was discovered on a bed with a gunshot wound to her head.

Pennsylvania State Police investigated the officer involved shooting and the assault of the law enforcement officers; Assistant District Attorney Chris Miller and Kyle Linardo approved the charges in the related cases.