After threatening officer, Bristol Twp. man killed

A 26-year-old Bristol Township man was shot and killed by a police officer after allegedly threatening the officer with a large piece of broken glass in his apartment yesterday afternoon.

Randall Pagano, who was on probation for what authorities called a domestic-abuse offense, was shot once in the chest about 2 p.m. He was taken to St. Mary Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later, Bucks County First Assistant District Attorney David Zellis said.

The officer, who was not identified, will be taken off street duty while county detectives investigate whether the shooting was justified.

The shooting occurred in a second-floor unit of the Mills Crossing apartments in the 6700 block of Mill Creek Road, where Pagano had lived for more than a year.

An officer from the Bucks County Adult Probation and Parole Department had arrived for a scheduled meeting with Pagano about 1:20 p.m. When the officer called Pagano's phone to be let in, Zellis said, Pagano answered with slurred speech, saying, "I am having very serious problems here."

Bucks County Court records show that Pagano, who had at least one previous conviction for assault, was put on 90 days' probation last month after pleading guilty to harassment charges.

The probation officer, who was not armed, called for police backup, and two Bristol Township officers arrived. They found the apartment door locked, and Pagano did not respond to repeated knocking, Zellis said.

An apartment maintenance employee unlocked the door, but officers found it barricaded with furniture, Zellis said. After squeezing their way in, the officers found Pagano hiding in his bedroom closet.

When Pagano failed to answer repeated demands to come out and put his hands up, the officers twice sprayed pepper spray at the closet, but Pagano did not come out, Zellis said.

Instead, the prosecutor said, Pagano used his fist to break an aquarium in the closet, and began to threaten the officers with it.

At that point, Zellis said, the officers retreated down a hallway of the apartment, with Pagano following.

"Officers were yelling and yelling at him to put the glass down," but Pagano kept advancing, Zellis said.

Unable to quickly exit because of the piled furniture still blocking the doorway, one of the officers fired, Zellis said.

Police said Pagano lived alone in the 36-unit apartment complex. Zellis said that the apartment was in a state of disarray and that suspected drugs were found inside.