Attempted murder-suicide thwarted by police
Officers credited for quick response in alleged hostage situation
(Editor’s note: Due to a production error, part of this story was omitted in Tuesday’s print edition. This is the full text of the story.)
UPPER DARBY » An 88-year-old township man is facing attempted murder and related charges in what Police Superintended Timothy Bernhardt said was an attempted murder-suicide that was thwarted by the quick response of his officers Sunday night.
Mario Cellini, of the 800 block of Hawthorne Avenue, was taken into custody after injuring the victim and himself by gunfire, but Bernhardt said that luckily no one was killed and both are expected to make a full recovery.
“It’s a tragic example, again, of domestic violence,” Bernhardt on Monday. “He actually held her captive there with his gun, he wouldn’t let her go, and it went on for a while there. So credit to these officers for acting the way they did. I truly believe they saved her life.”
Patrol Officers Michael Taylor, James Fagan Jr. and Andrew Morris responded to the Hawthorn Avenue residence after receiving a report of a shooting made by the female victim at about 8:13 p.m., according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Detective Leo Hanshaw.
The victim told a 911 dispatcher that Cellini had shot her and was
still on location. The three officers began to enter the residence forcefully when they heard a gunshot and retreated to obtain a ballistic shield provided by officers Kalle Blindenbacher and Kerry Gregory, the affidavit says.
The patrol officers reentered with the shield and found Cellini in the living room holding his head with blood pouring down his hand, according to the affidavit. Cellini was taken into custody and a small black revolver was recovered from the floor nearby, the affidavit says.
The handgun, a Rock Island Armory Model 206 chambered in .38 special, had five spent shell casings and one live round in the cylinder, according to the affidavit.
Taylor found the victim in a bathtub in a second-floor rear bathroom, bleeding from wounds on the lower half of her body, according to the affidavit. The door and interior of the bathroom also appeared to have been shot multiple times, the affidavit says.
“Help me! He’s going to kill me! Is he dead?” the victim asked Taylor, according to the affidavit.
Bernhardt said police had been dispatched to the residence before on domestic dispute calls in the last couple of years, most recently in 2021. He said this was the first time they had been called out to that address in 2022.
The victim and Cellini were taken to Crozer Chester Medical Center for treatment.
Hanshaw and Detective William H. Gottsch spoke with the victim at the hospital, who stated that Cellini had kept her prisoner in the home at gunpoint since Saturday and had threatened to kill her if she called the police, according to the affidavit.
The detectives also spoke to Cellini at the hospital, who allegedly admitted to holding the victim at gunpoint for “a couple hours” on Saturday and shooting the gun at the bathroom door while the victim was inside during an argument Sunday.
Cellini is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, possessing an instrument of crime, reckless endangerment, false imprisonment and terroristic threats.
Bernhardt said he would be released to a mental health facility following his discharge from the hospital, then potentially transported to the county jail in Concord after an evaluation.