Overview
- Troopers arrived around 6 a.m. to serve a judge-signed search warrant tied to a child sexual abuse material investigation originating from Kik cybertips, according to records and police statements.
- After entering the home on Gable Drive, troopers say they were confronted and opened fire, and John McDowell, 47, was pronounced dead at the scene with no troopers injured.
- The Lebanon County coroner identified McDowell and completed an autopsy, with the cause and manner of death not yet determined.
- The Pennsylvania State Police Major Case Team is investigating with assistance from the state attorney general’s office, and the involved troopers are on administrative duty per policy.
- Reporters observed multiple evidence-labeled boxes removed from the residence, and McDowell’s parents said he held a kitchen knife with an open Bible nearby, a detail police have not confirmed.