Reading, PA: Reading policeman shoots gunman dead after woman wounded in domestic violence

Posted: Tuesday, January 25, 2011 11:02 am | Updated: 11:09 am, Tue Jan 25, 2011.
By Steve Reinbrecht |
A Reading police officer shot and killed a man with a gun before police found a woman with a gunshot wound in a city home early Tuesday, Jan. 25.
According to the Reading Police Department and information from the Berks County coroner's office:
Police were dispatched to 1120 Buttonwood St. about 1:20 a.m. after a report that someone had been shot.
Victor Cataquet, 28, who lived at the address and also had a Blandon address, was in the street holding a handgun.
The first officer to arrive repeatedly ordered Cataquet to put down the gun.
After Cataquet refused, the officer fired several shots, fatally wounding Cataquet.
The department refused to immediately identify the officer. Police Capt. Fran Drexler said his name may be released Wednesday and that, following policy, he would be put on leave while the case is reviewed and referred to Berks County District Attorney John Adams' office.
He was the only officer at the site when he fired, but other officers quickly arrived, Drexler said.
Police found a woman with a gunshot wound to her upper torso on the living room floor.
The department refused to identify her. She is 27 years old and lives at the address, Drexler said.
The victim and a witness told police Cataquat had shot her in an upstairs bedroom after an argument.
The woman was treated in Reading Hospital. The wounds were not believed to be life-threatening.
Investigators were working at the site and conducting an autopsy Tuesday morning.
The latest time a Reading officer killed someone was July 17, when Officer James Kennedy killed Tyron L. Stevenson after Stevenson shot at Kennedy.
An investigation found that the shooting was justified.