A 26-year-old man with a history of mental health troubles shot his parents and killed a public safety officer Sunday in a gated Wayne County development, according to an arrest affidavit.
About 3 p.m., a heavily armed Lucas A. Gartrell, of The Hideout, Lake Ariel, Salem Twp., killed development security officer Jose Alberto Duran Jr., 55, and wounded Robert and Lisa Gartrell, who came to his home to check on him out of concern, according to the affidavit.
A helicopter flew the Gartrells to Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton for treatment. They survived.
Parents accuse son
Dispatchers for 911 heard both parents identify their son as the shooter, according to the affidavit written by state troopers Jeffrey Kistle and Michael Collins.
“It was my son,” Robert Gartrell, lying on a driveway, can be heard saying in the background of a neighbor’s call to 911. “He was trying to shoot my wife.”
“It was my son, Lucas Aron Gartrell, he’s bipolar,” Lisa Gartrell said.
The affidavit makes multiple references to Gartrell's parents saying he had mental health issues.
Neighbors try to help
The neighbor who reported the shooting saw Lucas Gartrell shoot Duran. She said Robert Gartrell told her he and his wife hadn’t heard from their son “in a while, so they decided to come check on him.”
The neighbor said Robert Gartrell ran toward her home bleeding and yelling to call 911. Another neighboring married couple heard gunshots.
The husband saw Lisa Gartrell hiding behind a rock on their property, grabbed his gun, ran outside and saw Lucas Gartrell running toward his mother.
He warned he was armed “and Lucas Gartrell turned and ran away,” according to the affidavit. The couple helped Lisa Gartrell into their home.
Police catch suspect
Another neighbor saw Lucas Gartrell flee on a motorized bicycle/scooter. About 4:15 p.m., state police Sgt. Michael Felsman spotted Gartrell at The Hideout’s north gate and pursued him.
Gartrell fled and eventually crashed into pine trees about five minutes later. He was dressed in a gray leather jacket, blue jeans and brown tactical boots.
Gartrell heavily armed
Felsman found a black backpack and ammunition magazines scattered on the ground. Gartrell had a handgun in the waist band on his lower back.
“Multiple knives, magazines and ammunition were found on his person,” Kistle and Collins wrote.
Gartrell refused to submit to an interview but said he dumped a rifle he was seen carrying inside his home because he couldn’t fit it into his backpack, according to the affidavit.
Lucas Gartrell is charged with criminal homicide, two counts of attempted criminal homicide, five counts of aggravated assault and a single count of first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday at 9 a.m.
