Trooper says Youngwood man threatened to shoot officers
A state trooper testified Monday that a Youngwood man threatened to shoot responding officers during a standoff at a Loyalhanna Township residence in January.
“I asked him if he had any weapons. He said he had a shotgun and he had enough ammo to do us all,” said Trooper Nicholas Pelc during a preliminary hearing for Travis Clinton Hensell.
Washington Township District Judge Jason Buczak held Hensell, 40, for trial on charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault, terroristic threats, reckless endangerment, burglary, criminal trespass and discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure.
He also held an additional charge of felon not to possess firearm against Hensell, filed on Monday by assistant district attorney Chuck Washburn.
No one was injured in the 1 1⁄2-hour standoff Jan. 25 at Pine Garden Apartments on Route 981.
A 37-year-old woman testified that she had recently left Hensell after a five-year, on-and-off relationship.
She said the two had argued that day by phone and text message. She said Hensell had been “real depressed the last couple of months,” because of his being out of work and their relationship deteriorating.
On Jan. 25, she said, he texted her that he intended to come to her apartment and “give me what I wanted.”
“He was referring to killing himself,” she said.
The woman called police and hid in a bedroom with her 4-year-old and 10-year-old daughters.
When she heard glass break in a bedroom, she said, she ran with the children to a neighbor's.
Pelc said that when he and Trooper Paul Brown arrived at the apartment, the door was open and the residence appeared to be empty.
He said they announced themselves, and a male's voice responded from down a hallway.
“He said we would have to come in and get him,” Pelc said.
After several minutes, Hensell came out with the shotgun at his hip, Pelc said.
“As he was turning and taking aim at our direction, I fired a single shot and missed,” Pelc said.
Hensell returned a shot and the troopers took cover outside, he said.
Additional arriving officers later took Hensell into custody.
Defense attorney Dante Bertani protested the introduction of Hensell's criminal history, including burglary and arson, claiming no document with a commonwealth seal was presented.
Buczak said that was not required at the magistrate level.
Hensell remains in the Westmoreland County jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Mary Pickels is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-836-5401 or mpickels@tribweb.com.
