Law enforcement vehicles blockade a section of Freshcorn Road in Cranberry Township Tuesday, July 2, during a search for “suspicious person.” The 37-year-old man was identified Wednesday, July 3, by state police who said he died in a fatal office-involved shooting. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Law enforcement officers need to be light on their feet and ready for anything, while watching carefully for details. Any situation can turn south quickly.

On Tuesday, July 2, Cranberry Township was swarmed with law enforcement officers in search of a man.

The situation started when an unauthorized vehicle was seen on a road at the Cranberry Heights Golf Course. When employees of the course approached the vehicle, the driver said he was having car trouble. The employees said the man was not speaking coherently, and noticed there were several firearms in the vehicle. They soon called police out of concern.

When police arrived, the vehicle was still there, but the driver was not. In the vehicle they found firearms, and Cranberry Township police Chief Kevin Meyer said during a news conference Tuesday “they found notes inside the vehicle that were extremely concerning to the officers, indicating that this person was not mentally stable and possibly wanted to do harm either to himself or to others.”

While the firearms and notes may not necessarily have led to an imminent threat of harm, law enforcement officers were not keen to take chances with the lives of civilians until they had a chance to find out what it all meant.

So as the search ensued, Cranberry Township was put on lockdown. Businesses locked their doors, public facilities — pools, parks, offices, the library — shut down, and residents were told to stay in their homes.

The search started with local police, and soon involved members of Beaver County’s ESU/SWAT team, state troopers and the FBI.

After a five-hour search, the man was found brandishing a firearm. Details have not been released as to how, but the man was fatally shot by police.

For five hours, law enforcement officers risked being harmed and asked the public to keep themselves out of harm’s way as they sorted out a situation with unknown variables. Was the man a threat? Did he need help? Was the public in danger?

This chain of events — from the call made by the golf course employees to law enforcement shutting down the town for a search — may have prevented a terrible situation. We applaud those law enforcement officials who considered the many variables with which they were confronted.

— RJ