Urinating Dog Sparked Cop-Killing 'Battle'

April 5, 2009 — -- The gun battle that left three Pittsburgh police officers dead and two wounded came after cops responded to a 911 domestic disturbance call sparked by a fight between a mother and son over a urinating dog, according to a police report.

The attack shocked residents of the Stanton Heights area of northeast Pittsburgh who awoke Saturday to the sound of gunshots -- around 100 rounds of gunfire in all.

"I couldn't walk out of my front door, it was a battle right in front of my house," said one neighbor, Randy Branch.

The chaos started shortly after 7 a.m. on Saturday, when police responded to what they assumed was a routine domestic disturbance call.

They showed up at the Stanton Heights home where Richard Poplawski, 23, lived with his mother. She had called 911 after an argument with her son over his dog urinating in the house grew heated and she threatened to evict him, according to the criminal complaint against Poplawski, which was obtained by ABC affiliate WTAE in Pittsburgh.

Two officers, Paul Sciullo and Stephen Mayhle, were shot as soon as they entered the doorway, Pittsburgh police chief Nathan Harper said.

A third officer, Eric Kelly, responded to the scene and was also shot. All three died of gunshot wounds.

Besides the three fatalities, two other police officers were wounded but are in stable condition.

Poplawski was shot several times in the leg and is in a local hospital receiving medical treatment.

The gunman apparently called several of his friends as the standoff was about to begin.

"He told us he loved us, that he'd been shot and he thought he was going to die," said one of those friends, Joe Dimarco.

DiMarco said his friend was "preparing for the end of the world," and that Poplawski had stockpiled bottled water and bags of rice. When asked why his friend had so many weapons, he replied, "for protection."

Other friends said they had seen him just two days ago and he seemed relaxed and was looking forward to going to a birthday party with friends this weekend.