A man who state troopers shot Sunday night in East Huntingdon has been a nuisance in the neighborhood, according to an employee at a neighboring tow company.

Jim Miller Jr., 61, started firing guns at his home just off Route 819 around 7 a.m. Sunday and was carrying on all day, said Gregg Thompson, who works at J-N-S Towing and lives nearby.

“Jimmy has a bad reputation in this area,” Thompson said. “He’s a known troublemaker.”

By 9:30 p.m. Sunday, a neighbor reported to state police a broken window and a bullet fragment inside their house, which is diagonal from Miller’s and across Route 819 from West Overton Village, according to Trooper Steve Limani.

Two troopers determined the area from where they believed the gunshot originated was Miller’s property. They found a vehicle riddled with bullet holes when they went to his door to talk to him.

Miller came out with an assault rifle, Limani said.

“Troopers identified themselves, retreated and had given verbal commands to drop the weapon,” Limani said. “During that verbal exchange, Mr. Miller discharged the firearm. The troopers returned fire and subsequently struck Mr. Miller in the torso.”

He was taken to AHN Forbes Hospital in Monroeville with multiple gunshot wounds. It was unclear if he was expected to survive. No one else was hurt. Police weren’t sure why Miller was firing shots at the neighbor’s house and there was no ongoing feud between them, Limani said.

The two troopers involved are on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure. Limani said they work patrol for the Greensburg station and have four and six years of experience.

“Regardless if there was a crime being committed by a person, we don’t want to ever have to use our weapons. … It was a tough position for these two troopers to be put in,” he said.

Miller’s home was cordoned off with yellow police tape through Monday as state police gathered evidence. Investigators were working with the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office to determine what type of criminal charges Miller may be facing.

“We’re hoping that Mr. Miller recovers from what took place,” Limani said. “Obviously, he’s going to have to face responsibility of his actions.”

Police were reviewing surveillance video and photos from the area, which is sparsely populated and between Scottdale and Route 119.

“When you’re talking about somebody having an assault rifle, there’s a lot of bad outcomes that can happen there,” Limani said. “In this case, no innocent people getting hurt, I think, was probably the best outcome we could have.”

Thompson said he wasn’t surprised by what happened to Miller.

“He’s one of those guys who he thinks he’s above the law,” Thompson said.

Miller has had several run-ins with police in the past, according to online court records. Most recently, he was sentenced to one year of probation stemming from an unauthorized use of vehicle charge filed by Connellsville police in 2014. He also has had a few impaired driving cases.

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