Man shot, killed after altercation with bail bondsman
NANTICOKE, LUZERNE COUNTY PA Feb 20 2021 The wanted man who was shot during an incident with a bail bondsman in Nanticoke Thursday afternoon has died.
Luzerne County First Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce confirmed the man was Thomas Painter.
At 2 p.m., Nanticoke police were dispatched to Fairview Drive for reports of shots fired inside a home.
When officers arrived, they found Painter suffering from a gunshot wound to the stomach. They learned painter had a warrant.
A bail bondsman was responding to the court’s order and had come to his house to take him into custody. Police say the bondsman was invited into the home, but as he entered, painter pulled a gun.
The bondsman responded with gunfire and hit Painter.
Some neighbors were outside shoveling snow when it happened.
“It was scary to see something like that, because you never think you’d see something like that in this neighborhood. I’ve lived here for almost five years and I’ve never seen anything like that. Not one bad thing and then that happens,” said neighbor Evan Lukowich.
“Right now we do not believe that he fired the weapon. He pointed it at the bail bondsman is what the initial indications seemed to tell us,” said Sanguedolce.
“The bail bondsman is not in custody. He volunteered to go to the station and give a statement and other witnesses are also at the station, there were other people present in the residence.”
Investigators say three other people were in the home at the time. They also say Painter had multiple open criminal charges with Luzerne County and was scheduled for a bail hearing tomorrow.
Painter was transported to the hospital, where he later died.
WBRE/WYOU-TV
