Shortly after being served with a restraining order from a former girlfriend, a Pennsylvania police officer went to his ex’s house and killed her. He also shot and injured her daughter before the woman’s husband fired back with a gun of his own.
The incident occurred Monday, NBC 10 reported, just three hours after Colwyn Borough Police Department Officer Stephen Rozniakowski, 32, was handed a protection from abuse order by Valerie Morrow, a 40-year-old former girlfriend.
Rozniakowski, who also faces 75 charges for stalking, resigned from the police department that same day.
Around 9 pm in the evening, Rozniakowski reportedly broke into Morrow’s home while wearing a bulletproof vest and fatally shot her. The gun involved was private, and did not belong to the police department, officials said.
"He came up the steps with his gun drawn, and as soon as he saw Mrs. Morrow and her daughter in the hallway, he started repeatedly firing at them in their direction, striking Mrs. Morrow and also hitting her 15-year-old daughter," Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan said to Philly.com.
After the daughter, named Bridget, was shot, she ran into her bedroom while the mother died, Whelan added.
The officer’s attorney, Marty Mullaney, said Rozniakowski simply wanted to talk to Morrow before he shot her.
Morrow’s husband, a part-time officer who was apparently sleeping at the time, was woken up by the sound of gunshots.
“He had a revolver in his dresser drawer, he reached for it. He came out and returned fire against Mr. Rozniakowski. At that point, he emptied his revolver and then fled back into his bedroom. He realized he was trapped and he jumped from a second-floor window,” said Whelan, as quoted by CBS Philly.
After the shooting, Rozniakowski notified authorities of what he did using his police radio and told them he was unarmed.
When law enforcement and medical teams arrived at the scene, the officer surrendered and was arrested. He has been charged with first-degree murder, and Whelan said Rozniakowski could face the death penalty.
The officer had been on administrative leave since March, Philly.com reported, due to a separate case in which a woman complained that he had been stalking her. Rozniakowski allegedly called and texted her dozens of times a day – sometimes more than 100.
Notably, right after following her restraining order, Morrow called an NBC 10 reporter familiar with the allegations against Rozniakowski. Law enforcement was reportedly in the midst of gathering an arrest warrant for Rozniakowski, who allegedly keyed Morrow’s car, but Morrow was killed before the officer would be arrested.
“If you find me dead,” she told NBC 10, “he did it.”