PENN HILLS, Pa. -- Police have charged a Pittsburgh man with killing a police officer and another man Sunday night in Penn Hills.

Police said Patrolman Michael Crawshaw, 32, a three-year veteran of the Penn Hills Police Department, was shot in his car Sunday as he waited for backup near a house along Johnston Road where gunfire was reported at about 8 p.m.

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Allegheny County Police Superintendent Charles Moffatt said Crawshaw was shot once in the head and two or three times in the upper arm.

Moffatt said Ronald Robinson, 31, of Pittsburgh, shot Crawshaw after leaving a house where he shot and killed Danyal Morton, 40, over a $500 debt.

The criminal complaint obtained by Channel 11 News said Morton’s roommate told police he answered the door and observed Robinson with an assault rifle. Robinson then went upstairs to confront Morton and shots were fired.

Robinson told police that he ran from the house and Crawshaw directed him to stop, but Robinson responded by firing multiple shots at the police cruiser.

"When he's exiting, he sees the officer there so he just takes it upon himself to open up fire on the officer as he sat defenseless in his car," Moffatt said.

According to Robinson, he ran into a nearby wooded area and threw down the rifle and a 9mm handgun.

Morton, who police told Channel 11 News was arguing with the suspect on the phone all day, was found dead on the bathroom floor of the home.

Moffatt said Robinson came in for questioning at about 4 a.m. Monday and was later charged with two counts of homicide and burglary.

Police said they believe there was another person involved but did not elaborate.

Neighbors reported hearing 10 gunshots at the Johnston Road home around 8 p.m. Sunday.

"There was rapid fire," said neighbor Robert Sephas. "Shots fired over and over, some louder than others."

"Such a sad thing," said neighbor Robert Bryant. "To see an officer shot like that, doing his job. It disgusts me more than anything that they could do something like that."

Channel 11 learned Monday morning that Morton called 911 and told the operator that people were in the home with guns. A few minutes later, police said, they got another call from someone else in the house.

Penn Hills Police Chief Howard Burton said Crawshaw parked his police cruiser two to three houses away from the scene. Crawshaw knew there was trouble in the past at the home so he took precautions. Burton said the officer was waiting for backup in the police car when he was shot.

According to police, Crawshaw was trying to crawl out of the patrol car when he was shot in the head.

Burton said he spent the night grieving with his officers and remembering a man who everyone seems to rave about.

"It's difficult," said Burton. "Spent a lot of time (at the scene) last night. Officers off duty sat and consoled one another. Pleasant guy. Just nice and friendly to everyone."

A person police were initially looking for Sunday night turned out to not be a suspect. The person told Channel 11 News that his friends called him after hearing his name on television, so he drove to the Clairton Police Department to clear his name. Police questioned and released him.

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato issued the following statement Monday:

"My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Penn Hills Police Officer Michael Crawshaw. My condolences also go out to every police officer in the line of duty.

"I have made the full resources of the Allegheny County police and crime lab available to investigate this terrible incident. We will not rest until we have found those responsible. I have also ordered flags to be flown at half-staff on all Allegheny County buildings and facilities in honor and memory of Officer Crawshaw."

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. issued the following statement Monday:

"On behalf of my wife and family, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the family of Officer Michael Crawshaw. It is a time of year when we gather to celebrate peace, joy and rebirth. Yet, in the blink of an eye, the peace is shattered, the joy is replaced by indescribable grief, and rebirth turns to death, another senseless death of a police officer who was simply doing his job.

"Once again, we as a community are called upon to offer our collective strength, this time to the family of Officer Michael Crawshaw, to comfort them in their time of sadness and to offer the hope that we will forever preserve the memory of this brave man. In the coming days, we will escort Officer Crawshaw to his final resting place, and we will do so with grace and dignity, because we do so knowing that the violence and the heinous acts that occur far too frequently, can never bury the spirit, courage and dedication of the men and women who make up our law enforcement family."

Earlier this year, three Pittsburgh police officers were shot and killed while responding to a domestic dispute call in Stanton Heights. Officers Eric Kelly, Paul Sciullo II and Stephen Mayhle were killed during the April 4 standoff.

The shooting suspect in that case, Richard Poplawski, was wearing a bulletproof vest and was armed with a variety of weapons, including an AK-47 assault rifle, when the officers arrived at his mother's home, police said.

He shot Sciullo inside the home and Mayhle on the front stoop within seconds and shot Kelly in the street as he arrived as backup, prompting a four-hour gun battle before he was taken into custody, they said.

Poplawski is being held in the Allegheny County jail on homicide and related charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

The last time a Penn Hills officer was killed in the line of duty was in 1972, when Sgt. William Schrott and Officer Bartley Connolly Jr. were shot while trying to catch an armed robber at a shopping center.

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