A 35 year old Pennsylvania man named Adam has been charged after police say he fired a gun at a store employee who asked him to wear a mask, then shot at officers with an AK 47 during a traffic stop the next day.
Authorities say Adam, of Slatington, walked into Cigars International in Bethlehem Township at 11:23 a.m. on Friday, July 31. The store required masks under the governor’s pandemic order. Police say employees told him he needed a face covering and offered to serve him curbside instead. Authorities say he took two cigars without paying and left. When an employee confronted him outside, police say he pulled a semiautomatic handgun and fired once into the air and twice toward the employee. No one was hurt.
At 9:35 a.m. the next day, a Slatington police officer and two Pennsylvania state troopers stopped his vehicle. Authorities say he got out and fired an AK 47 at them, hitting a police car. State Trooper Nathan Branosky said the officers and troopers returned fire and struck him. Adam was flown to a hospital with gunshot wounds to his buttocks and leg. One officer had a minor injury, and no troopers were hurt.
Adam faces charges including attempted murder, aggravated assault, robbery and reckless endangerment. Police said he was also charged with possessing a firearm while prohibited because of prior offenses. His attorney, John Waldron, confirmed on Monday that he faces 22 charges in total. Waldron said stress from losing a job during the pandemic and losing custody of his child played a role, adding that it was not a defense or an excuse.
Adam is being held on $1 million bond. The charges are allegations, and the case had not been decided when this story ran.
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