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Gunman Opens Fire At Cars, Flees Police In Berks County: Authorities

A suspected gunman sits in a Berks County jail cell on multiple felony charges after police say he shot at cars and made terroristic threats on Tuesday, March 28. 

NBRPD

NBRPD

Photo Credit: Facebook/Northern Berks Regional Police Department

Officers were dispatched to Railroad Avenue in the borough of Leesport at about 3 p.m. for reports of shots fired, said Northern Berks Regional police in a release. 

When they arrived, witnesses told them the suspect was armed with two guns, and that he had taken off for the Leesport library, where he was "attempting to get into vehicles in the (...) parking lot," according to the department. 

Police descended on the parking lot, where the suspect was arrested following a "brief foot pursuit," authorities wrote. He was unharmed, but a Northern Berks officer was injured while taking the suspect into custody, the department said.

Investigators recovered two guns from the Railroad Avenue area where the incident first began, the release says. "Several" nearby cars had been damaged by gunfire, police noted. 

Howard James Devlin IV, a 34-year-old Leesport resident, was later charged with two counts of attempted motor vehicle robbery, receiving a stolen firearm, terroristic threats, reckless endangerment, and related counts, NBRPD wrote. 

Bail was set at $250,000 at his arraignment on Wednesday, March 29, and remains in police custody, court records show. Devlin is scheduled for a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Brian K. Strand on April 11. 

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