JUDY D.J. ELLICH judye@dailyamerican.com
GREENSBURG — William Thomas Teeter was watching television with his wife in New Florence Borough at about 9 p.m. Nov. 28, 2015, when he heard a fire alarm.
Thinking a friend, who lived along Ligonier Street might need help, Teeter jumped into his truck and drove the few minutes toward his friend's house — only to discover a different kind of scene.
He saw two police cruisers on the left side of the street and a woman he and his wife knew, Kristin Luther, leaning over a police officer who was on the ground in her yard, at 131 Ligonier St.
Teeter testified on the first day of 33-year-old Ray Shetler Jr.'s capital murder trial Thursday in Westmoreland County Court that he recognized Luther. He knew the man on the ground was a police officer because he saw the police patch on his arm, and by his vehicle's headlights. Shetler and Luther shared the residence.
Shetler is accused of murdering St. Clair Township police Officer Lloyd Reed Jr., 54, of Hollsopple. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty. The defense says it's a case of self-defense. The jury heard 911 recordings and testimony from witnesses Thursday.
It all started with a call from Luther about a domestic abuse situation that drew police to the scene that night, according to testimony.
Teeter found out later that the officer on the ground was Reed. He died that night at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown from a gunshot wound to his chest.
Teeter pulled along the house and went to offer help. Luther told Teeter that Reed had been shot, and that she was trying to roll him over. He was face down. Teeter rolled him over and found that Reed appeared to not be breathing. He called 911.
"I didn't see any one there," Teeter said. Seward police Officer Kevin Smith, however, was already on scene, trying to secure the area.
Smith testified Thursday that he received a call for backup from his friend, Reed, who was working a domestic violence situation. The male was reported to have a gun. Smith was 10 minutes away, on Route 711. He started toward New Florence immediately. He was five minutes away when Reed contacted him about when he would arrive.
Shortly after that he heard on his radio: "Shots were fired. Officer down."
Smith said he believed that Reed tried to reach him, but the voice was garbled. Smith told the jury that what he believed he heard was, "I've been shot. Please help me." He drove faster.
When Smith arrived he yelled at Luther, who was leaning over Reed, "Where is the shooter?"
She was so distraught she couldn't talk, so she pointed to the left side of the house, according to testimony.
Smith said he heard a male voice say, "F-you, too," coming from that vicinity. With a gun drawn in one hand and a flashlight in the other, Smith circled the house, but found nothing.
He called the 911 center and said that the scene was not secured, but to send an EMS vehicle and he would cover them.
"I thought I was going to get shot myself," Smith said. He said he had to neutralize any threat so he could get Reed the medical help he knew he desperately needed.
The jury of six men and six women listened intently throughout the first day of the trial, as the prosecution played 911 tapes recorded that night.
The jurors heard the desperate cry for help from Luther, to get Shetler out of her house after he allegedly assaulted her and broke her nose. She told 911 dispatchers that he had a gun.
She is on the list as a possible witness for the defense.
Reed was the first officer on the scene, at around 9:13 p.m. Seward Officer Justin Dickert soon followed and was on scene throughout the incident. Dickert testified that he was on his way from his cruiser to the residence when he heard a verbal exchange between Reed and Shetler. "Drop the gun. Drop the gun," he testified he heard Reed yell. He knew Reed's voice, having previously worked with him. He said he knew Shetler's voice, having grown up with his brothers and attending the same school until high school.
Then he heard the shots. "It was fast," he said. He also called 911.
A second recording of the exchange between the state police communication center and Reed was also played for the jury as the lead state police investigator, Cpl. Michael McElfresh, sat at the witness stand.
Among the last words heard: "Need assistance. Officer down," and then silence.
Shetler fled the scene, leaving his truck parked near Luther's residence. He was caught after a six-hour manhunt near the Conemaugh Generating Station in Indiana County. Shetler stole a truck from NRG Energy, police said. He then got it stuck on the railroad tracks near the station, according to police.
In his opening statement, Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck said that "every day with reality a person who serves as a police officer understands his or her life may be taken from them."
"That is what happened on Nov 28, 2015. At that time a person responsible for the safety (of a resident) in New Florence had his life taken from him," he said.
Defense attorney Marc Daffner told the jury in his opening statement that this case isn't about what happened. "We all know that," he said. "It is about why it happened."
He said that Shetler did not know that Reed was an officer. He said that Reed shot Shetler first, sending a bullet into his shoulder, and then fired five more times before Shetler turned and fired back.
Westmoreland County Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio is presiding over the case.
