Bucks County, Pennsylvania

From the Allentown Morning Call of June 19, 2005

Man kills wife, then is shot to death by son, 15, authorities say

Andrew Detwiler of East Rockhill had hospitalized himself briefly last week. Boy tried to protect his mother.

An East Rockhill Township man blasted his way into his home with a shotgun Saturday and killed his wife as she talked to a 911 operator — then was shot to death by the couple's 15-year-old son, authorities said.

Andrew Detwiler, 44, of 30 Greenleaf Circle, shot his wife, Suzanne Detwiler, 40, about 10 a.m. at the family home after loading an empty shotgun he had wrested from the boy, said Bucks County District Attorney Diane Gibbons.

The father took the shotgun as the boy and his 17-year-old brother pointed unloaded shotguns at him in an attempt to scare him away from their mother. Detwiler was holding a knife to his wife's throat, Gibbons said.

The couple had begun arguing earlier that morning, police said.

Gibbons described Andrew Detwiler's shooting death as justifiable, saying the boys acted heroically.

''There's no question that he acted solely for the purpose of saving his mother's life,'' said Gibbons, who added that the 15-year-old would not be charged.

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