Penn Hills Police Officer Michael Crawshaw shot and killed in the line of duty.

Officer Michael Crawshaw shot in line of duty (Pittsburgh Channel)

Another police officer has been shot and killed in the line of duty. KDKA-TV has identified the fallen officer as Michael Crawshaw. Crawshaw, 32, was a 2.5-year veteran of the Penn Hills Police Department. Allegheny County Police Superintendent Charles Moffatt said the officer was gunned down, apparently with an assault rifle, as he sat in his car awaiting backup outside 201 Johnston Road, while responding to a domestic disturbance call. Officers found another man, Danyal Morton, 40, dead of gunshot wounds inside. He was shot by Ronald Robinson, 31, of Homewood, who will be charged with two counts of homicide and burglary. Police said Robinson came to the home seeking payment of $500 from Mr. Morton related to a drug deal. Here is another criminal who should not be out on the streets.

Allegheny County detectives and Penn Hills police were able to locate Mr. Robinson early this morning. He was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet, and officials said they found weapons near Mr. Robinson's house. Mr. Robinson has been arrested several times in the past, including on drug and firearms charges. He pleaded guilty in 2005 to carrying a firearm without a license and was sentenced to 2-1/2 to 5 years in prison. He was paroled on Aug. 26, 2007, according to the state Department of Corrections. Source: Post-Gazette

Crawshaw was originally from the Shaler/Glenshaw area and worked for the University of Pittsburgh Police Department before moving to Penn Hills. He was not married and did not have children. The last Penn Hills police officers to die in the line of duty were Sgt. William Schrott and Patrolman Bartley Connolly Jr. in 1972. The men were shot trying to apprehend an armed robber at the East Hills Shopping Center.

It is a sad commentary that another police officer has been murdered. This brings the total deaths of police officers in the last two weeks to six, with Maurice Clemmons murdering four in Lakewood, Wa., and Bart Wayne Johnson, who murdered a police officer in Pelham, Al. I am guessing that since Ronald Robinson was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet that he has recently been charged with a crime. How many more people are going to die at the hands of career criminals before the court system says enough is enough?

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