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Westmoreland County jury convicts man for assaulting and disarming police after missing probation hearing

GREENSBURG (KDKA) - A jury in Westmoreland County has convicted a man of assaulting and disarming a police officer as well as resisting arrest. 

When police went to arrest Ray Shetler Jr. for failing to appear at a probation hearing two years ago, they said he became combative and in the moment, injured a sheriff's deputy. 

Shetler was acquitted in the 2015 killing of a St. Clair Township police officer. 

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In November 2015, St. Clair Township Police responded to a call for a domestic dispute on Ligonier Street. 

Once they arrived, they said that Shetler was holding a rifle, and despite instructions from the police to drop the rifle, he refused and fired three rounds from close range. 

Shetler and police exchanged gunfire and an officer was killed as a result. 

Once Shetler stood trial in 2018, he was found not guilty on charges of first- and third-degree murder, terroristic threats, and simple assault, but guilty on charges of theft and receiving stolen property.

Then, once out of prison and on probation, Shetler failed to appear at a hearing in 2021 and when police came to arrest him, he head-butted an officer, injuring the officer and himself in the process. 

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