Troopers testify they feared for their lives during 2024 East Huntingdon shootout

Two Pennsylvania State Police troopers testified Tuesday they feared for their life when they opened fire last year on an East Huntingdon man during what they called a routine neighborhood canvass after responding to a shots fired report earlier that night.

“He refused to drop his weapon,” testified Tpr. Brandon Gelet during the second day in the attempted homicide trial of James R. Miller Jr. “I was in fear of my life and Trooper Smith’s life.”

Miller, 63, is on trial in Westmoreland County in connection with a shootout on Jan. 28, 2024 in front of his West Overton home. He is charged with 21 counts that includes counts of attempted murder, aggravated assault and assault of law enforcement officers.

Gelet and Trooper Brandon Smith testified that as they investigated a neighbor’s claim that a bullet was fired through a skylight window in the attic of their home around 9:30 p.m., they were confronted across the street by a gun-wielding Miller.

Gelet told jurors he and Smith received no initial response as they attempted to question Miller.

Gelet testified troopers arrived at Miller’s darkened home and saw no activity as loud music played over an outside speaker. Troopers shined flashlights in the yard and into windows and unsuccessfully attempted to contact the home’s occupant via a doorbell camera, Gelet said.

The trooper testified he saw an an assault rifle propped up against a counter. Then Miller suddenly emerged, grabbed the gun and walked out of a side door onto his porch and quickly fired two shots.

“I unholstered my weapon and yelled for him to drop his weapon. There was no time to get to cover. And I see two rounds fired into the ground as he begins to pivot to my general direction, so I discharged my weapon,” Gelet testified.

Miller was shot in the chest, according to prosecutors. The troopers were not struck by gunfire.

Gelet and Smith narrated as videos of the shootout, recorded from a dashcam in Gelet’s police cruiser, were played for jurors, including an enhanced version that adjusted night time light levels in the yard where the rounds were fired to make it easier to see the incident.

Smith testified Miller emerged from his home and fired over a period of just seconds.

“If I wouldn’t have acted it would have been a completely different set of circumstances,” Smith told jurors. “He would have pivoted and potentially shot me or Trooper Gelet.”

Miller has denied the allegations. Through defense attorney Jill Devine, Miller claimed he is the victim of a police cover up. Devine contends police fabricated and mischaracterized evidence to cover for what she called improper actions by the troopers on the night of the shooting.

Devine subpoenaed Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli to testify as a witness, claiming her public statements about the shooting supported the defense claims that Miller did not shoot directly at police.

Devine told the judge Tuesday she no longer planned to call the district attorney after Gelet and Smith both testified the rounds fired by Miller were not directly at the troopers.

Testimony in the case will continue Wednesday.