Fugitive ex-cop Anthony James Galla first pointed his loaded .40-caliber Glock handgun at a U.S. marshal outside the window of his second-floor hotel room in Upper Darby Tuesday evening. The marshal opened fire.
When three other marshals inside the hotel heard the gunshots, they kicked in the door to Room 207 at the Summit Inn Hotel and, as Galla turned toward them with his gun drawn, they opened fire, too.
In the end, 52 shots were fired at Galla, who was killed. He never fired a shot.
The barrage of bullets brought an end to a 17-hour manhunt for the 31-year-old former Marine Reservist who was wanted for a shooting at his ex-girlfriend's home in Mount Carmel earlier Tuesday.
As members of the marshals' task force opened fire, a woman believed to be Galla's brother's girlfriend was hiding
in the bathroom of Galla's room. Moments before that, a man believed to be the brother - shouting to alert Galla that police were coming - was tackled in the hotel hallway by a state trooper.
Those and other dramatic details were provided Wednesday as law enforcement agencies pieced together a tragic tale that started in Northumberland County at 12:55 a.m. Tuesday and ended at 5:37 that evening less than 10 miles from center city Philadelphia.
'Ready for war'
Galla, 31, of Cleona, near Lebanon, was wanted in connection with an incident at the home of Marlene Lloyd, 244 S. Walnut St., on the east side of Mount Carmel. Borough police said Galla knew the location of a hidden key when he left himself into the house, where he once resided with Lloyd, and woke her by shining a flashlight in her face.
Galla and Lloyd went into the hallway, but when her new boyfriend, Daniel McNally, 48, of Hegins, went to check on them, he said Galla pointed a semi-automatic handgun at him.
"The boyfriend retreated, saying 'I will leave' several times and got on the floor beside the bed," according to the criminal complaint Mount Carmel police issued Tuesday afternoon in which they charged Galla with attempted homicide and other crimes.
Galla entered the bedroom and fired seven shots from about six feet away from McNally, striking him once in the foot, before fleeing. McNally, who was later transported to Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, for treatment, had been upgraded from serious condition Tuesday to "fair" Wednesday.
At 3:25 a.m., while police were processing the scene, Patrolman William K. Adamski was informed Lloyd was speaking to Galla on the phone. Adamski then spoke to Galla, who once served as a part-time officer in the borough and for police departments in Mount Carmel Township, Kulpmont and Butler Township, Schuylkill County. Galla reportedly told Adamski there are "two ways this will end - one is good and one is bad."
A police report issued after the Mount Carmel shooting noted Galla was a former police officer with military training. It said he made "several indications of possible suicide by police" or that he'd be involved in a police shooting.
That's what would play out later Tuesday.
'Ready for war'
Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood conducted a press conference Wednesday at which he showed a semi-automatic rifle he said Galla had with him in the hotel room. Chitwood said the rifle, like the handgun, was "fully loaded" at the time officers entered.
Video courtesy of Delaware County Times.
"This was Galla's last stand. He was ready for war," Chitwood was quoted in a story written by Kathleen E. Carey and posted at delcotimes.com, the website for the Delaware County Times.
In a brief video taken at the press conference, Chitwood holds up what is believed to be an AR-15 and mentions that knives were also confiscated. What appears to be five additional rifle clips and a bullet-proof vest can be seen on a table.
Chitwood said Galla was on the run and came to the area because his brother lives in Upper Darby.
He said Galla's brother pleaded with the suspect to turn himself in, but he did not want to go to jail, according to the delcotimes.com story.
"This thing is still under investigation," Chitwood was quoted in the story.
Tom Smith, assistant chief deputy U.S. marshal for the Eastern Division, confirmed in a phone interview Wednesday that Galla was well armed.
"There was a large amount of ammunition in the room," he said.
He couldn't confirm what the semi-automatic rifle was, but believes it was an AR-15, a civilian version of the M16 rifle used in the military.
Smith, who was present at the scene but did not take part in the shooting, said the hotel was surrounded by members of the task force when Galla came to the window and pointed his gun toward two members on the ground. One of those task force members opened fire at Galla, Smith said. That's when the other task force members kicked in the door, he said.
The marshals fired for about 5 to 10 seconds, Chitwood told delcotimes.com.
The task force, consisting of marshals, state troopers and Philadelphia police, had been tracking Galla since the Mount Carmel break-in.
Smith said when police entered the hotel, he heard someone yell in the hallway that police were coming. He believes it was Galla's brother, who was then tackled by the state policeman.
Smith did not know the names of the brother or his girlfriend, and repeated attempts to reach Chitwood for more information on Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Justifying the shooting
The Upper Darby police department, along with the Delaware County District Attorney's office, will make the determination on whether the shooting was justified, Smith said.
He is confident that will be the case.
"This person was wanted for shooting another individual and had made statements about committing suicide by police. It was pretty clear what his intention was," Smith said.
While the task force's mission and hope is to take every suspect into custody alive, Smith said Galla's actions and words "determined the end result."
"We want to take the person into custody without doing any harm, but that was the path he chose, and we reacted accordingly," Smith said. "The good thing is that no innocent people, or officers, were hurt."
Chitwood, in comments made Tuesday for a delcotimes.com story, said the shooting appeared justified.
"Preliminarily, it looks like a good shooting. I applaud the marshals," he said.
Owens praises marshals, police
Todd Owens, chief of Mount Carmel Borough Police, said Galla did "fairly decent" at trying to cover his tracks as he worked to elude law enforcement officials. He fled immediately and save for at least one phone call, kept his cell phone powered off to avoid GPS detection.
Law enforcement officials were tracking his finances, and Galla provided clues on his location by using a bank card more than once, Owens said, with one of those transactions being made in New Jersey.
As Galla was pursued as a fugitive, local police sequestered the family and stood guard until his death.
Owens praised the work of various factions of the U.S. marshals and Pennsylvania State Police that worked the manhunt, including the marshal's fugitive task force and state police's Bureau of Emergency and Special Operations.
"For smaller departments, it's an absolute luxury to have those assets and support of those bigger agencies to assist," he said.
With Galla now dead, borough police must still finalize evidence, complete reports and exchange information with other law enforcement agencies. Once that is completed, the case will be closed.