Man who shot at cop held: $1M bail
Suspect charged with attempted murder, assault of police officer
A man accused of shooting at an Upper Gwynedd Township police officer was charged Monday with attempted murder and related charges and is being held on $1 million bail. Randy Root, 35, was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Suzan Leonard. He was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault of a police officer, reckless endangerment, firearms violations, and related charges, according to Upper Gwynedd police.
No one was injured in the Sunday shooting, according to Chief David Duffy.
Duffy gave the following account of the incident in a press conference Sunday:
Officers first responded around 12:12 p.m. on Sunday to reports of a “suspicious person ‘roaming’” in a neighborhood at the intersection of East Prospect Avenue and Hancock Road in Upper Gwynedd Township.
A few minutes later, Officer Min Joo Kim and Sgt. Raymond Royds came in contact with a man, who was later identified as Root, at Sanctuary United Methodist Church on East Prospect Avenue, Duffy said during the press conference. While attempting to speak to the man, he “took off running,” and was later seen “less than a half mile” away in another neighborhood at the intersection of Marilyns and Cathys Lane.
“Officers then received multiple reports of
neighbors informing that the subject was roaming in their yards and going inside sheds,” Duffy said. “A woman also reported that he tried to get into a car that was in her driveway.”
Sgt. Royds spotted the suspect around 1:06 p.m. in the backyard of a home on Cathys Lane, according to Duffy, who added that the suspect fled the area and was seen again at another
house on the 1400 block of Cathys Lane.
The suspect “turned around to Sgt. Royds, yelled obscenities, pointed a shotgun at him, and fired at a distance of approximately 30 feet away directed at Sgt. Royds.”
However, the “shot missed him,” Duffy said, which allowed the officer to get to a “large oak tree” and let other officers know what had happened.
Officers from a number of police departments across the area rendered assistance, according to Duffy. Once a “perimeter was established,”
Royds, Kim and Montgomery Township Police Department Officer Tim Woch found the suspect “in a backyard right across from where the shooting had occurred” where he surrendered and was taken into custody.
In addition to a shotgun and a rugert rifle, ammunition was also discovered at the scene, according to Duffy. While “there was no threat to the public,” according to a statement from the department, there was “a heavy police presence in the area” Sunday.
“Certainly, it’s an extremely
scary situation,” Duffy said Sunday. “I’m very glad that somehow that round missed the officer. I’m also glad they were safely able to take him into custody without anyone in this crowded neighborhood hurt.”
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for September 3 at 1:30 PM. Root remains in Montgomery County Correctional Facility.
“Although Sgt. Royds is off duty today, his handcuffs were used to transport Root to the Correctional Facility,” the arraignment release stated.