Officers had interaction with alleged killer hours before he shot a woman in Tredyffrin Township, police say
The man accused of fatally shooting a woman in her car in Chester County, Pennsylvania, over the weekend had an interaction with police officers about two hours before the woman was found dead, court documents say.
Steve Jahn, 44, was arrested and charged with a murder that occurred Saturday night in Berwyn, Tredyffrin Township, according to the Chester County District Attorney's office.
The victim was identified by the Chester County Coroner's Office on Wednesday as Megan Nieberle. According to her obituary, Nieberle was a nurse at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for 27 years. She leaves behind a husband and three children.
Around 8:30 p.m. that night, Tredyffrin Township police responded to the PNC Bank on Lancaster Avenue and Leopard Road in Paoli, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in court.
Jahn had called 911 and told a dispatcher he was being followed by multiple people and undercover police officers. He also told the dispatcher he had a loaded revolver in the center console of his truck.
The responding officer noted Jahn was acting "frantic" and was seen waving his hands in the air inside the truck. Jahn told the officer he believed "that people were going after him and following him around."
The officer said Jahn could voluntarily commit himself to Paoli Hospital for a mental health evaluation if he surrendered his firearms. Jahn refused, but told the officer he would go to the hospital with a police escort. Two officers then followed him to Paoli Hospital.
Jahn then asked and was allowed to leave the scene because he said the cars in the hospital parking lot were the ones that were chasing him earlier.
Then, around 10:50 p.m., Tredyffrin Township police were called to Contention Lane and Old State Road, an area about a 10-minute drive away from the PNC Bank, for a report of a crash. That's where an officer found the victim, a woman who has not been publicly identified, slumped over the steering wheel of a silver Acura SUV.
The woman was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead.
Video shows what happened before shooting
Footage showed that Jahn tore down the dash camera in his truck minutes before police arrived. Police obtained a recording from that camera where Jahn can be heard saying "I ain't playing no more" while driving around with a gun in his lap, according to the court document.
Sirens can also be heard in the video, and after that, the video shows Jahn placing a gun in the glove compartment, according to the affidavit.
A resident who lives near the shooting scene told police they heard multiple gunshots and then saw a man acting erratically and walking near their home. The resident said that about 10 minutes after that, the same man drove by slowly in a silver pickup truck. Police believe that man was Jahn.
The sounds of gunshots were also picked up on a baby monitor in a home near the scene.
Police say cameras and license plate readers placed Jahn's truck in the area where the shooting occurred Saturday night.
Expert explains what police can do
Former prosecutor Guy D'Andrea reviewed the warrant and explained what police can do in a situation like this.
"In circumstances like this, one of the things you're looking for is, is it clear and present danger, either to yourself or others?" D'Andrea said.
In the earlier interaction, D'Andrea said, police saw a person "who is clearly suffering from some kind of mental health distress" and who had a gun.
"It at least on its surface, I believe, presents itself as a potential clear and present danger that is at least worthy of an attempt to have him involuntarily committed, at least for a review by a mental health specialist, which then also would have necessarily permitted the police officers to recover that firearm without a warrant," D'Andrea said.
