Man shot by police after barbecue threat report identified

READING, PA. >> Authorities have released the name of a man shot and killed by a police officer in eastern Pennsylvania after a report of threats at a neighbor’s backyard barbecue.

Berks County authorities said Reading officers responded to a report that 62-year-old Michael Stoudt had pointed a rifle over his backyard home and found him on the porch with a shotgun. They said he refused to drop the weapon and instead pointed it in their direction, and an officer fired several times. Stoudt was pronounced dead at the scene just after 9 p.m. Friday. The county district attorney’s office is investigating.