West York Pennsylvania Police Officer in Hospital Clash Fatally Shot in Torso: 'Vest is Not a Guarantee'

Officer Andrew Duarte texted his girlfriend a selfie in his police car Saturday moments before he was called into a York County hospital for an active shooter.

It showed him wearing a knit cap, sunglasses, a wry smile and his bullet-resistant vest.

Minutes later, he ended up as one of several officers in a gunfight against a man who had taken hostages and started shooting in the Intensive Care Unit at UPMC Memorial Hospital in West Manchester Township. The York County Coroner this week said Duarte, 30, died from ballistic wounds to his torso.

Coroner Pam Gay said she could not provide more details on where on his torso he was struck by bullets, but noted there are always gaps and limits to the protection of vests, including where they fit around the arms.

“A vest is not a guarantee,” she said.

That’s why the vests are properly known as being bullet-resistant, not bullet-proof.

Vests also vary in length, coverage and fit, sometimes leaving gaps at the waist. Most vests also have vents or gaps on the sides, to allow the officer to be able to move and have flexibility.

Duarte’s girlfriend, Zanna Dutton, said her boyfriend religiously wore his vest and confirmed he was wearing it the day he was killed. She said she has not yet been briefed on where on his body he was hit.

State Police, who are investigating the shooting, declined to tell PennLive where on his body he was struck, so it remains unknown if the vest failed or if he was hit in an unprotected area.

A U.S. Marshal killed in Harrisburg in 2018 during a shootout with a wanted suspect was struck by a shot that went through the armhole of vest.

In that same incident, a Harrisburg officer believes his protective vest with added steel plates saved his life.

Wayne State University biomedical engineering professor Cynthia Bir has studied law enforcement injuries and body armor vests for more than 20 years. She told BodyArmorNews.com there are generally two reasons why officers wearing vests may still get killed during a shooting:The bullet hits an unprotected area of the body, such as the head;

Or the vest wasn’t designed to resist the caliber of weapon fired.

“As long as it’s not an overmatched threat, as long as it’s a bullet that the vest is rated to stop, we haven’t had any issues with having any severe or fatal injuries,” she told the outlet.

The National Institute of Justice tests and rates bullet-resistant vests through a scale up to four with four being the highest level of protection. The highest level can absorb or deflect bullets from high-powered rifles.

The hospital shooter was armed with a semiautomatic handgun, police said.

The decision over how much of officers’ bodies should be covered by vests is complicated, and the amount of protection they wear usually varies with the assignment and season.

Officers assigned to tactical units, who face known high risk assignments, wear the maximum level of protection with a vest that covers high on the chest and low on the abdomen with added plates for protection. But officers say that level of armor is not practical for sitting and riding in a patrol car all day answering calls or making traffic stops.

Officers also may look to something less heavy and hot during the high temperatures of summer months.

Officers generally want as much protection as they can get while still being able to move nimbly and comfortably perform their jobs. Officers can add steel or ceramic plates to boost their protection over vital body parts, but they can be heavy and expensive.

Many departments pay for vests for their officers and replace them on a schedule to keep them most effective. In some departments, officers have to pay for their own vests.

In 2019, after police sought funding for higher-level vests with steel plates, UPMC Pinnacle donated 40 beefed-up vests to the Harrisburg police department.

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