NORTH UNION TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A man from West Virginia was killed and a Buckhannon woman was in custody after a nine-hour standoff with Pennsylvania state police Friday.
Pennsylvania troopers said Donald Ray Brown, identified solely as a West Virginia resident, died inside a house that he had broken into following a police chase. Some reports indicated Brown died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but that hasn’t been confirmed by police.
Investigators said Brown and Jessica Lynn Phillips, 28, of Buckhannon, were first spotted Friday morning acting suspiciously in Ohiopyle State Park. They told park officials they were homeless and had been staying in the park area for a few days. A Pennsylvania Natural Resources ranger suspected the two were making meth after spotting some materials at the scene.
Police said the couple then took off in a truck with a West Virginia license plate. Pennsylvania troopers spotted the truck in Connellsville, Pa., and the chase continued to North Union Township with shots being fired from the truck toward police. After the truck crashed into a house, Brown and Phillips then ran to another house, where an elderly woman lived but wasn’t home. A standoff began.
Police said Phillips gave herself up but Brown did not. He was found dead in the house Friday night after about nine hours.
Phillips is in jail on $1 million bail. She’s charged with four counts of aggravated assault, attempted homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, three counts of reckless endangerment, fleeing or attempting to elude police and a host of other charges.