Yet another school shooting! (second this week)

[TheeBadOne]

School intruder shot

Andre Tate said it sounded like someone pounding on a window.
The 15-year-old Indiana Area Senior High School sophomore was on his way back to his classroom when he saw Joseph William Stank and an Indiana Borough police officer facing each other in the school's driveway.

Stank pulled out what appeared to be a semiautomatic handgun and pointed it at the policeman, who ordered Stank to drop the gun and lay it down on the ground, he said. The officer, cradling a 12-gauge shotgun to his shoulder, fired a shot, dropping the 51-year-old man to the pavement.

Stank dropped his weapon. At the same time, the police officer appeared to drop his radio, Tate said.

Tate watched Stank reach for his gun again. The officer fired a second round.

"It sounded like someone pounding a window. He just went down," Tate said.

Stank later died at Indiana Hospital of gunshot wounds to the chest and neck, according to Indiana County Chief Deputy Coroner Michael Baker. He said an autopsy and toxicology tests will be done as part of the investigation.

State police Lt. Brad Shields said Stank was armed with a pellet gun at the time of the shooting. Later, at a news conference, Shields displayed the silver weapon, which resembles a 9 mm or .40-caliber pistol.

He said there is not a quick way to distinguish it from a real weapon, noting that the only way to determine it was a pellet gun was a small red dot on the handle that would have been covered by Stank's hand during the confrontation. Shields added that the officer fired only after Stank pointed the weapon at him.

Indiana police Chief William Sutton said preliminary reports indicate the officer acted properly. The officer's name has not been released, pending completion of the investigation.

"Everything we got preliminarily indicates it was justified," Sutton said.

He said the officer will be given a few days off and offered counseling. He also will be questioned by state police investigators.

Shields also defended the shooting.

"This police officer was looking for a place to turn around his cruiser to look for the suspect, who had been reported to 911, and he sees this guy (Stank) with the same clothes and matching the description," Shields said.

Police did not identify the individual who called 911 shortly after 2 p.m. with a report that Stank was carrying a gun as he walked down North Fifth Street toward the school, which is located in White Township.

Shields said Stank had been treated for mental illness and had a criminal record, although he had no details last night. He added that investigators are tracing Stank's movements prior to the shooting.

Police investigating the shooting served a search warrant last night, but refused to disclose the location.

Shortly after the shooting, school administrators ordered the staff not to discuss the incident. However, a teacher who witnessed the shooting said that during the entire episode, his thoughts were on the killings this week at a Minnesota high school.

"You're watching this unfold right in front of you, and your thoughts are, "This can't happen in our small town,'" said the teacher, who asked not to be identified. "But it did."

School officials said Stank came into the high school office and asked secretaries for a job application. He was directed to go to the school district's administration office to obtain the application.

Stank left the school and went outside. The teacher said because Stank appeared so disheveled, he watched him walk outside, where he was confronted by the police officer.

Echoing Tate's description of the incident, the teacher said the officer calmly instructed Stank to get on the ground. Stank, he said, pulled out a gun and pointed it at the officer, who fired once.

Stank fell and dropped the handgun, the teacher said. He added that it appeared that as Stank reached down to pick up the gun, he was shot a second time in the chest.

It was all over in a matter of seconds, the teacher added.

Christian Berry, 16, a sophomore at the school, said he was walking to his house when he saw four or five police cars and several police officers running toward the school while others surrounded the building.

"I ran inside," Berry said. "There was a lot of cops."

Superintendent Kathleen Kelley said the school immediately locked down, which means that students were kept in their classrooms. Kelley said Stank did not brandish a weapon inside the school.

"He just appeared to be a man in need of a job," she said. "The secretaries were kind to him. ... He looked kind of indigent, so the secretaries watched him as he left."

After the scene was cleared, buses were rerouted to the rear of the school and students were dismissed, she said.

"When students left, they knew they were not in any danger," Kelley added.

Administrators will talk to students about the killing when they arrive for classes this morning.

Indiana Area School District Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Kelley peers over a pellet gun that Joseph William Stank pointed at an Indiana Borough police officer Wednesday afternoon outside Indiana Area High School. The man shot twice by a shotgun later died at Indiana Hospital.

Two Indiana Borough police officers talk about how to direct traffic away from the high school, where an officer shot and killed Joseph William Stank on Wednesday afternoon.

An Indiana County police officer lights a flare to stop traffic from entering the Indiana Area High School campus after an officer shot and killed an armed man Wednesday on the school's sidewalk near the gym entrance.

A customer walks into Lias Tire Co. where earlier in the day Joseph William Stank came in asking if the company was hiring. Employee Dave O'Hara said Stank "asked me 10 or 15 times. I honestly thought he drank too much and was looking for beer money."

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