PENN TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Authorities said the search for a man who brought an assault rifle to the Westmoreland County business he works at early Thursday morning is over because he turned himself in.
According to Penn Township Police Chief John Otto, 28-year-old Matthew Smith showed up at the Perma-Cast building around midnight with an AK-47 assault rifle and a handgun.
Otto said Smith told employees to leave and get away. When police arrived, workers said Smith had just left the area.
“An individual had entered their business armed with an AK-47 assault rifle and a semi-automatic handgun. That individual advised the employees to leave and, ‘Get away from here,’” Otto said.
Investigators said Smith never directly threatened his co-workers.
Channel 11’s Courtney Brennan reported that Smith was suspended from work for three days on Wednesday. It’s unclear why he was suspended.
“He was administered some discipline, got a couple of days off and apparently that was the tipping point for him. He went there last night to rectify the situation,” Otto said.
While doing interviews with workers outside, police noticed smoke coming from inside the building.
On further investigation, officials said, they found one of the machines had overheated and was about to catch fire. Otto said he’s not sure if Smith had something to do with the fire.
Smith turned himself in just before 1 p.m. after an intense search that lasted several hours.
He told police that he stashed the weapons in a storage locker in Greensburg.
Smith was arraigned Thursday on charges related to the incident.