A man who authorities believe shot and killed a Pennsylvania State Police trooper on Friday was killed Saturday during a confrontation with the officers pursuing him, authorities said.
(Pennsylvania State Police report on the killing of Trooper Landon Weaver and subsequent death of suspect Jason Robison December 31, 2016. Courtesy of PennLive and YouTube)
State police said they found Jason Robison on Saturday morning at an unoccupied mobile home not far from his own home in Huntington County.
“Robison refused commands to surrender, made threats to harm additional law enforcement personnel, and was shot and killed in the ensuing confrontation,” the state police said on their Facebook page.
Robison had been the subject of a growing manhunt since police believe he shot Trooper Landon Weaver around 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Weaver was responding to a domestic violence call on Bakers Hollow Road in Juniata Township, about 85 miles east of Pittsburgh.
Shortly afterward, police released a photo of Robison, 32, before he dyed his hair purple. They asked the public to keep a lookout, but warned against approaching him, saying he may still be armed.
The Centre Daily Times reported that Robison had a lengthy criminal record: a dozen arrests with charges ranging from simple assault to arson. Still, much remained unclear about any suspected motive in the alleged attack on Weaver.
Weaver is the 97th member of the Pennsylvania State Police killed in the line of duty. He had been a Pennsylvania state trooper for a year and was assigned to a unit based out of nearby Huntingdon.
In a statement, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) said Weaver “will always be remembered for his bravery, his sacrifice, and his willingness to serve.”
The nation has seen an uptick in lawmen killed this year, amid worries that anti-police sentiment is leading to increased attacks on officers.
By Dec. 29, 135 officers had been killed in the line of the duty, a 10 percent jump from the year before, according to The Washington Post’s Mark Berman and Kevin Uhrmacher.
Of those slain officers, 64 were shot, a 56 percent increase pushed up by a surge in ambush attacks.
Weaver’s death happened two years after the ambush of two other Pennsylvania State Police troopers, which left one injured and the other dead.
(Sept. 2014. Hundreds of troopers paid their respects to Corporal Bryon Dickson who lost his life at the hands of a gunman. Courtesy of CNN and YouTube)
Cpl. Bryon Dickson was shot and killed by Eric Frein, a self-styled survivalist who eluded police in the woods of rural Pennsylvania for nearly two months, the FBI told The Post.
Trooper Alex Douglass was injured when he came to Dickson’s aid.
