Post's acquaintances have little to say in wake of killing

It's indisputable that Charles A. Post, who shot and killed a Lower Burrell police officer Wednesday, had a lengthy criminal record, but few who knew Post would speak publicly about him.

Post, 33, was a member of Burrell High School Class of 1996, who played soccer and was the football team's kicker.

Paul Hensel, 32, of Lower Burrell, played on the high school football team with Post in 1995.

He said Post was a successful kicker.

The two weren't really friends, Hensel said, and they did not keep in touch after high school.

Hensel, a 1998 Burrell graduate, described Post as "a bit strange."

"I just couldn't believe when I heard who it was that he killed," Hensel said.

Hensel also knew Officer Derek Kotecki, 40, a childhood neighbor of his, who he called "really a good guy."

"He'd always ask about my parents," Hensel said about Kotecki.

Many other members of the Burrell football team refused comment about Post.

Monsignor James Gaston, of St. Margaret Mary Church in Lower Burrell, said both the Kotecki and Post families are members of the parish.

He could not comment about the Post family, saying he did not know them as well as the Koteckis.

"I know the family, but I don't know him," Gaston said of Charles Post.

Gaston said he didn't know if Kotecki and Post ever interacted at church.

Post had been the subject of a manhunt since Oct. 2 when he fired gunshots at his boss, a contractor, outside of the Clarion Hotel in New Kensington.

In that incident, Terry Janosky, 44, of New Kensington, said he called Post that Sunday afternoon and Post began screaming at him. Janosky said he went to the Clarion to meet Post, but when he pulled up in his truck, Post opened fire.

Three bullets from a large caliber handgun hit the driver's side of Janosky's truck, including one right above the driver's window.

Police recovered 12 shell casings at the scene.

Janosky, reached via phone Thursday, refused to comment.

Over the past 17 years, police agencies across the Alle-Kiski Valley -- including New Kensington, Lower Burrell, Allegheny Township, Harrison, Springdale Township, Indiana Township, Tarentum and Plum -- have charged Post with a slew of minor offenses, including numerous incidents of traffic violations, disorderly conduct and harassment.

The 50 different incidents also include possession of drug paraphernalia, aggravated assault, simple assault and drunken driving.

Staff writers Rossilynne Skena, Brian Rittmeyer and Liz Hayes contributed to this report.