Officials identify Pennsylvania State Police trooper killed in officer-involved shooting

MIFFLINTOWN, Pennsylvania (WPVI) — Officials have identified the people involved in a shooting that left one Pennsylvania State Police trooper dead and another seriously hurt on Saturday.

State police say 29-year-old Trooper Jacques Rougeau Jr. was shot and killed during the incident in Juniata County.

READ | 1 Pennsylvania State Police trooper dead, 1 seriously injured after officer-involved shooting

Lieutenant James Wagner, 45, was seriously injured in the shooting.

Wagner is currently listed in critical condition at an area hospital.

The incident began when officials say a man engaged with state troopers just after 11 a.m.

According to state police, the man arrived at Troop G, Lewistown station armed with a rifle and fired shots at patrol vehicles in the parking lot.

A wide manhunt for the shooter began that included helicopter reinforcement, officials say.

Officials identified the shooter as 38-year-old Brandon Stine of Thompsontown, Juniata County.

Wagner located Stine early that afternoon and they exchanged gunfire, police said. That’s when a shot from Stine’s gun struck and critically injured Wagner.

The shooter was located by Rougeau sometime later.

Troopers say Rougeau encountered Swine while driving through the county, at which point Swine shot the trooper through his car’s windshield and killed him.

The shooter made another escape in what police described as “a game of cat and mouse,” and he fled into a rural residential area in Walker Township, Juniata County.

Authorities chased Stine through a residential area and a parking lot, where they confronted him again. Stine started a shootout with police in the parking lot, which was occupied by patrons of a nearby store, police said.

“What I witnessed, and I will tell you in my many years with the Pennsylvania State Police and many serious situations, was one of the most intense, unbelievable gunfights I have ever witnessed,” said Lt. Colonel George Givens at a press conference. “Our troopers put themselves between those people and, and by force with their vehicles and by engaging him, forced him away from the business.”

Police cornered Stine when he became stuck against a row of trees on a nearby property, and he was shot and killed, Givens said.

“This is a tragedy for the Pennsylvania State Police,” said Colonel Christopher Paris, commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police.

“We ask for your continued prayers for not only our Troopers but also their families,” he added.

Rougeau enlisted in the Pennsylvania State Police in 2020 and was transferred to Troop G in Lewistown in March of last year.

State police say he is the 104th member of the Pennsylvania State Police to die in the line of duty.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro ordered flags in the commonwealth to be flown at half staff due to the trooper’s death.

The CNN Wire contributed to this report.