Montco DA: Police fatally shot man who charged at officers with machete, hatchet after hours-long barricade

EAST GREENVILLE, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Police shot and killed a man who charged at officers with a machete and hatchet in East Greenville, Montgomery County on Saturday, authorities said.

Around 8 p.m., police went to a house on Cherry Street, blocks away from Main Street, because an 18-year-old reported a physical assault. A man barricaded himself in the basement and threatened the officers, investigators said.

Police spent the next few hours negotiating with the man without movement. Then, around 11:30 p.m., police breached the basement door and saw the man had a machete and a hatchet, investigators said.

Police tried to get him to drop the weapons but he refused, then charged after them, authorities said. Officers tried to use a Taser on the suspect but they could not bring him down, so one of the officers shot him.

Police administered first aid but the man was pronounced dead after midnight, officials said.

The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office is handling the investigation. Officials did not identify the man who was killed. The officer who pulled the trigger was with the Upper Perk Police Department, authorities said.

No details have been released about the assault that was initially reported or the condition of the person who called 911.