MOUNT CARMEL - Borough police investigating Tuesday's shooting where the suspect was a former police officer with military training acknowledged that it would have changed the approach of the investigation had the suspect not been shot in Upper Darby.
Sgt. Christopher Buhay said it would have put officers and suspect Anthony Galla, 31, of Cleona, "on a level playing field."
Galla would have known some of the ways police were going to track him and would have tried to cover those up, Buhay said.
Because of that, Buhay said police were erring on the side of caution in terms of information revealed to the media, and would otherwise be especially diligent in their police work.
With today's technology and good police work, he could have only done so many things to keep on the run, he said Tuesday afternoon.
Mount Carmel Borough, Mount Carmel Township and Kulpmont police departments employed Galla, a former U.S. Marine, at one point on a part-time basis, including in early 2011, before he took a full-time job with Hazleton city police in July 2011.
According to a past story in the Hazleton Standard-Speaker, Galla left that job after three months. Hazleton Police Chief Robert Ferdinand didn't elaborate on the reasons at the time, describing it as a personnel matter.
He was last employed by the Butler Township police department. Chief Edward Tarantelli on Tuesday referred all questions to township Solicitor Christ Reidlinger, who was not available.