Pennsylvania man wanted in cigar-store shooting in dispute over face mask wounded in police shootout
08/03/2020 1:20 pm PDT
BETHLEHEM TOWNSHIP, Penn. (TCD) --
An armed and dangerous Pennsylvania man wanted for allegedly firing a gun at a cigar store in a dispute over wearing a face covering on Friday was wounded by police in a shootout Saturday morning.
Adam Zaborowski, 35, went to the Cigars International Superstore on Nazareth Pike in Bethlehem Township Friday about 11:23 a.m., Bethlehem Township Police say, where staff told him that due to coronavirus restrictions, they could not serve him unless he wore a face mask.
The staff told Zaborowski they could take his order outside to him on the curb if he did not want to wear a mask. Police said Zaborowski "became irate," took two cigars from a shelf and left the store without paying.
An employee chased after Zaborowski outside the store. Police say Zaborowski pulled out a semiautomatic handgun and fired once into the air and twice at the employee as a customer was sitting in the line of fire. Zaborowski then left in a Dodge Dakota pickup truck. Police said no one was injured.
Officers identified Zaborowski and issued an arrest warrant on charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault, robbery, reckless endangerment, and for possession of a firearm, as he is prohibited from having a weapon due to prior offenses, police said. He was considered armed and dangerous.
Lehigh Valley Live reports borough and state police attempted to stop Zaborowski as he left his house Saturday morning. The suspect allegedly got out of his truck and opened fire on police with a high-capacity semiautomatic rifle, state police said.
Zaborowski was shot by Slatington Police and Pennsylvania State Police. A Slatington officer was struck in the arm by bullet fragments during the gun battle, state police said.
Zaborowski was was treated at the scene, then flown by helicopter to St. Luke's University Hospital for treatment. He was arraigned in the hospital and held in custody on $1 million bail.
“He just wasn't dealing well with the loss of his job, the loss of his child, just not handling the pandemic well,” said Zaborowski's defense attorney John Waldron. “I think he was getting stretched too tight.”
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