The following is content from an external news source, republished with permission.
by Ian Karbal, Pennsylvania Capital-Star
March 9, 2026
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org
Gov. Josh Shapiro has ordered flags across the commonwealth to be flown at half-staff after a Pennsylvania State Police trooper was killed Sunday night in West Caln Township, Chester County.
State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens, acting agency commissioner, said Corporal Timothy J. O’Connor Jr., 40, was shot while responding to a call about an erratic driver in Chester County.
O’Connor radioed that he had made a traffic stop around 8:24 p.m. A patrol was sent out after he did not respond to subsequent messages from state police.
Bivens said the driver opened fire within seconds of O’Connor approaching his vehicle. After fatally wounding O’Connor, the driver shot himself with a pistol. He was later pronounced dead at the scene. O’Connor was transported to Paoli Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
He said O’Connor was a state police veteran of more than 15 years. He’s survived by his wife and daughter.
“We have lost a dear member of our family, a hero and member of the Pennsylvania State Police,” Bivens said in a statement Monday. “Our hearts remain with Corporal O’Connor’s wife, daughter, and family. We ask for everyone’s continued prayers to help them during this devastating time.”
A Pennsylvania State Police Major Case Team and Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe’s office are conducting a joint investigation. It’s being treated as a murder-suicide.
The shooter has been identified as 32-year-old Jesse Nathan Elks, a Chester County resident.
“We don’t have a lot of information right now,” de Barrena-Sarobe said.” In the coming days, we are going to be looking into his backgrounds and his motives.”
Shapiro said at a press conference at Paoli Hospital in Paoli, Chester County, early Monday morning that he had spoken to O’Connor’s family, including his mother, father and wife.
“There are many questions, many of which will go unanswered, but the one thing we absolutely know for certain is that their son, their husband, was a hero, and he died protecting others,” Shapiro said. “That is a noble calling, and it is something that we are profoundly grateful for.”
Both the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association and the Pennsylvania State Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police issued statements in the wake of O’Connor’s shooting death.
“We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Tim O’Connor, who was performing one of the most routine and most dangerous duties in law enforcement when he made the ultimate sacrifice,” Fraternal Order of Police State Lodge President Joseph Regan said in a statement.
O’Connor is the 105th trooper to be killed in the line of duty, according to the state police, and the first since 2023.
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Pennsylvania Capital-Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Tim Lambert for questions: info@penncapital-star.com.
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