WEST HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WHTM) – The Lancaster County District Attorney’s office says the shooting of a man who held two people at gunpoint in January was justified and that the shooter will not be charged with homicide.
District Attorney Heather Adams says after a review of the evidence, West Hempfield Township Police and the Lancaster County Detective’s Office determined Hector Burgos-Torres confronted two men outside the Lincoln West Apartments and demanded money while holding them at gunpoint.
The investigation found Burgos-Torres forced the two men into his apartment where two women were also staying with young children. One of the women called 911 and followed Burgos-Torres into a bedroom, which led to him placing a gun under her neck.
At that time, the district attorney’s office says one of the men attempted to take the gun away and was struck multiple times in the head. During the struggle, the second man retrieved an illegally possessed firearm and fired multiple shots at Burgos-Torres.
Both men left the apartment and were detained by police. Officers located Burgos-Torres deceased inside the bedroom with a 9mm handgun and recovered a second gun that he had used to force the men into the apartment.
Police discovered the two guns used by Burgos-Torres were stolen in East Hempfield Township the night before he was shot.
“The District Attorney’s Office reviewed the investigation and determined that the use of deadly force in this situation was legally justified as the male reasonably believed that deadly force was necessary to protect himself and others in the apartment from death or serious bodily injury,” said District Attorney Adams. “Statements and physical evidence gathered in the investigation supported the above determination.”
Police also recovered the firearm used to shoot Burgos-Torres that had been possessed by one of the men forced into the apartment. According to the district attorney’s office, that gun was reported stolen in 2017 from its owner in Manheim Township.
The man who possessed the illegal firearm will be charged with Person Not to Possess a Firearm, Receiving Stolen Property, and Possession with Intent to Deliver after marijuana was seized during the investigation.
