UPDATED: 2 Dead, 1 Hurt in Shootings; Daughter Watched Mother Die, DA Says

Friday, 5:06 p.m.:

UPDATE: Deadly Shooting Victim ID’d, Was Set to be Married Next Sunday

Thursday, 10:44 p.m.:

A man who recently got out of jail and had been arrested by police previously at gunpoint killed his former wife outside a Feasterville shopping center where her daughter was picking up a dress, authorities said.

Kenneth Phillipp, 50, of Richboro, was shot dead by police Thursday evening a few miles from where he killed his ex-wife, police said. Authorities did not release the identity of his ex-wife.

According to Lower Southampton police Chief William Wiegman Jr. and District Attorney David Heckler, Phillipp pulled in behind his ex-wife’s black car in a shopping center in the 100 block of Bustleton Pike and shot her through the driver-side window in the torso with a shotgun. Her 16-year-old daughter, seated in the passenger seat, suffered either a minor gun or glass wound to the hand and was taken to St. Mary Medical Center in Middletown, Heckler said.

Tommy Heinsinger, who drove by moments after the shooting, said  people tended to the 16-year-old as she lay on the group prior to an ambulance arriving.

Phillipp then sped away down Bustleton Pike. A Northampton patrol officer recognized the older-while Lincoln sedan and began to follow, calling for additional back up units, Northampton Lt. Mike Clark said. He added that the officer, a nine-year veteran of the force, did not turn on lights or sirens.

Next, Phillipp pulled into the right-turn lane at the entrance to the Pheasant Valley Shopping Center on Buck Road in Northampton Township. The 50-year-old stopped the car, jumped out and with his shotgun in hand began shooting at the officer, who was struck in the vest, Clark said. The officer got out of his marked patrol car and fired back and is believed to have hit the suspect as he retreated or fell back into his vehicle, Heckler and Clark told reporters at a press briefing.

Hecker said if the Phillipp had used larger buckshot, “we may have had a different outcome tonight.”

The officer was sent to St. Mary Medical Center for examination and was unharmed, officials said.

Daniel Francis, who owns the jewelry shop that bears his name near the scene of the shootout, told LevittownNow.com he spoke with a friend who told him police “unloaded” on the man inside the car. His friend also told him he drove for cover from the shots by going under a vehicle.

Twitter user @Queenleen tweeted she saw Newtown, Lower Makefield and state police speed toward the scene. Bristol and Middletown township officers also to the Buck Road scene.

Phillipp had recently been released from prison on charges he tried to break into his ex-wife’s West Lynford Road home as the 16-year-old was inside in November 2012, according to a story on PhillyBurbs.com and a police source. The website reported he was found to have a knife with him.

In late February, Phillipp plead guilty in county court on charges related to that case.

A police source told LevittownNow.com that Phillipp’s ex-wife had protection from abuse order filed against him. They added that area police were familiar with the man from “numerous” incidents.

Police and the district attorney offered little details on Phillipp’s incarceration.

Phillipp was arrested at gunpoint in a busy Northampton shopping center in April 28, 2011 after he is alleged to have threaten a police department sergeant.

In that incident, a Northampton resident who had spoken with Phillipp came to the police station to report his neighbor had made threatening comments about a township police sergeant and had displayed, what the neighbor believed,  to be a high-powered rifle, Detective Sergent Bill Klein said at the time. Officers began surveillance of Phillipp’s home at night and obtained an arrest warrant from the district attorney’s office, the detective said in  2011. Authorities also formulated a plan to take him into custody the next morning. For unknown reasons, those charges were eventually dropped, court records indicated.

CLICK HERE to see more exclusive photos from Phillip’s 2011 arrest

“The suspect seemed to hold a lot of animosity toward the sergeant,” Klein said.

Officers and detectives with guns out took Phillipp into custody at that time outside Richboro Wine and Spirits Store in the Crossroads Plaza shopping center.

At the time, police said they found a shotgun which the neighbor mistook as a high powered rifle when they searched Phillipp’s home. He was arrested and charged with making terroristic threats.

Back at the spot where a police officer finally brought Phillipp down Thursday just after 6:30 p.m., officials from around the county were present into the evening.

Gunshots blew out the back window of the white sedan and several bullet holes were visible on the windshield. Inside, Phillipp sat on the brown driver’s seat slumped over with blood running from his head.

At the crime scene on Bustleton Pike, investigators combed over the car where his ex-wife’s body remained in the driver’s seat, covered by yellow tarp.

Clark said the officer who is believed to have shot Phillipp will be suspended from street patrol until an investigation by county detectives has concluded. Heckler told reporters he expects the officer to be cleared on any wrongdoing.

Heckler said,  the fact that a 16-year-old had to watch her mother die was a tragedy.

Authorities were expected to release more information on Friday.

Thursday, 7:35 p.m. 

A deadly incident that started in Lower Southampton ended a short time later in Northampton, officials say.

According to District Attorney David Heckler, the shootings Thursday night are believed to be part of a domestic relations incident.

One person is dead on the 100 Block of Bustleton Pike in Lower Southampton, Heckler told LevittownNow.com.

A 16 -year-old, who was in the car with the person shot dead, was taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

Heckler also said the alleged suspect is dead in a car at the entrance to the Pheasant Run Shopping Center in 295 Buck Rd in Northampton Township.

Witnesses at the Pheasant Run Shopping Center  reported seeing police fire on the alleged suspect. One man said police “unloaded into the older white car.

Police from around the county are currently investigating at both scenes.

 

More details as they come in.

 Original story:

Two are  dead in shooting that started at a car dealership in Feasterville on the 100 block of Bustleton Pike.

Multiple Central and Lower Bucks police agencies are on scene.

The alleged suspect authorities are reporting was shot dead at Buck and East Holland roads.

More details as they come in.