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A man opened fire with an AK-47 at officers in Pennsylvania after refusing to wear a mask and has since been charged with attempted homicide.
Read More: Customer throws woman, breaks her leg after being told to wear mask
Adam Zaborowski is accused of attempting to kill at least seven police officers last Friday because he is not “just not handling the pandemic well,” his lawyer, John Waldron, insisted over the weekend. The 35-year-old shot a Bethlehem Township clerk after being told he had to wear a mask inside the Cigars International store.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf made masks and other face coverings mandatory in the state in July to help prevent the coronavirus. There have been 113,000 cases of COVID-19 there and more than 7,200 deaths.
In response to the clerk’s command, Zaborowski grabbed two cigars without paying, hightailed it into the parking lot and then shot at the clerk. Fortunately, the clerk wasn’t wounded in the gunfire.
“It’s crazy,” said Tom Gallagher to WFMZ, a witness. “It’s the mask. The guy was obviously anti-mask.”
The following day, police showed up at Zaborowski’s home and he opened fire on at least seven police officers with an AK-47 and a semiautomatic handgun around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. The incident resulted in Zaborowski being struck twice in the butt and leg. He was placed under arrest and is expected to recover from his injuries.
“Both the Slatington Borough officer and troopers returned fire and struck Zaborowski,” State Trooper Nathan Branosky said in a news release.
An officer suffered a minor injury and no other troopers were hurt.
Bill Rutt was there when the chaotic scene unfolded. He told LehighValleyLive he was just sitting in his truck when the shootout began.
“All of a sudden the blue truck stopped, he got out and started shooting and that’s when I took cover,” Rutt said.
Waldron told the Express-Times on Sunday that his client is going through a lot at the moment.
“He just wasn’t dealing well with the loss of his job, the loss of his child, just not handling the pandemic well,” Waldron said. “I think he was getting stretched too tight.”
Read More: Minnesota GOP leader resigns after comparing mask order to Holocaust
Zaborowski’s been charged with 22 counts including attempted homicide, aggravated assault, and robbery. His bail has been set at $1 million.
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