East Huntingdon man wounded in encounter with police remains hospitalized, faces charges

State police filed charges Wednesday against an East Huntingdon man who was wounded in an encounter with troopers over the weekend.

James R. Miller Jr., 61, was shot by state police Sunday. He is recovering in a hospital, according to his brother.

Police charged Miller with discharging a firearm into an occupied structure and two counts of reckless endangerment.

“My brother’s condition is getting better,” said his brother Ralph Miller. “He’s lucky he’s not dead.”

Ralph Miller said he has lingering questions about what happened Sunday night. He said he hopes to learn more as the investigation progresses.

“If I go by what they said, then it’s justified. But how do you know that if you don’t see any video?” he said. “I have my doubts, but I kind of like to keep faith in the police.”

A criminal complaint filed in the case said two troopers responded around 9:30 p.m. to homes across Route 819 from West Overton Village. A neighbor who lives diagonal from Miller reported hearing five or six shots and glass breaking and found a bullet fragment in the attic, the complaint said.

Police determined the bullet would have originated from Miller’s property. When they went to his home, he came outside with an assault-style rifle, police said. Troopers said they retreated and ordered him to put down the weapon, but Miller fired the gun. Miller was shot in the torso by return fire.

Police said they recovered an AR-15 rifle and shotgun from the yard, according to court papers. Spent shell casings were found around the property, including in the area of a pickup that had bullet holes in the windshield.

“The (pickup) was in direct line of sight from Miller’s residence to (the neighbor’s), and the vehicle did not have a sufficient backstop preventing rounds being fired into the vehicle from traveling beyond the vehicle or stopping a bullet’s trajectory,” police wrote in court papers.

The neighbors told police they didn’t have any ongoing feud with Miller. No one else was hurt. The two troopers involved are on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure.

From his hospital bed Tuesday afternoon, Miller told police he shot several rounds at the pickup before going back into his house, according to court papers. He didn’t remember anything else from Sunday night, police said.

Troopers have been stationed at the hospital, according to Trooper Steve Limani.

Ralph Miller said his brother’s condition has been slowly improving, but another surgery was scheduled Wednesday. Jim Miller Jr. has two adult children, according to his brother.

“I’m hopeful, but he’s not out of the woods yet,” Ralph Miller said. “He’s someone’s father; he’s someone’s brother; he’s someone’s son.”