Details on gunman, shooting emerge
Published: June 13, 2009
Font size: [A] [A] [A]
e-mail this
share thisYATESVILLE - New details surfaced Friday about what took place inside the Nazareth townhouse rented by Daniel Autenrieth's estranged wife before he kidnapped their 9-year-old son, Trevor, and led police on a 40-mile chase into the Pocono Mountains that ended with the shooting death of Trooper Joshua Miller, who was buried Friday in Laceyville.
Susan Autenrieth has told friends she believes her husband meant to kill his entire family.
Mr. Autenrieth was supposed to drop their three children at curbside during a custody exchange Sunday night. Instead, he carried their half-asleep 3-year-old to the door, and Mrs. Autenrieth let him inside, her friend Torrie Clarke said.
After telling the children to go upstairs, Mr. Autenrieth pointed a gun at her and said, "If you don't talk to me, this isn't going to end well for anybody," Ms. Clarke told The Associated Press in the first full account of what took place inside the home.
Mrs. Autenrieth, who had recently broken her ankle, screamed for the children to lock themselves in the upstairs bathroom and ran for the back door. Her husband tried to stop her from getting out, repeatedly slamming the door on her leg cast. But she fought him off, got outside and yelled for a neighbor to call 911.
"That moment is what saved her life," Ms. Clarke said.
Mr. Autenrieth took off with their son and led police on a wild chase before his car was forced off the road. Mr. Autenrieth opened fire as troopers rushed his car. He and Trooper Miller died in the gunbattle, and Trooper Robert Lombardo, 35, was hit in the torso. The boy was unhurt, though his arm was hit by a shell casing, Ms. Clarke said.
Investigators looking into how Mr. Autenrieth, 31, got the 9 mm handgun have discovered surveillance footage from a sporting goods store that showed Mr. Autenrieth's girlfriend purchasing the gun in late May, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation told the AP on Friday.
Mr. Autenrieth, who was not permitted to have a weapon under the terms of a protection-from-abuse order obtained by his wife, was with his girlfriend when she bought the gun, the official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is not complete.
Mrs. Autenrieth, meanwhile, has entered counseling along with her three children. Her son hasn't spoken much about what happened to him Sunday night, Ms. Clarke said.
"In all honesty, Trevor just wants to be a normal little boy," Ms. Clarke said. "He wants to go back for the last days of school and see his friends; he wants to go to the home run derby."
3 posted comments