Case Explained: Man who fired at cops at busy Harrisburg intersection pleads guilty – Legal Perspective

The Dauphin County man who opened fire on cops and motorists at a busy Harrisburg intersection in 2024 pleaded guilty on the eve of his trial.

Jacob Bruce Bucher III waited until Dauphin County was getting ready to impanel a jury against him to admit he tried killing a Harrisburg cop and endangered several other during a firefight at the intersection of Cameron and Maclay Streets on March 13, 2024.

He was originally scheduled to go to trial next Monday, Jan. 26.

Instead, Bucher pleaded guilty Monday to attempted homicide, aggravated assault, assault of a law enforcement officer, firearms charges, drug possession charges, all felonies, before Dauphin County Judge Scott A. Evans.

He also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor reckless endangerment. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 6 before Judge Katy Kennedy-McShane under an agreement of 16 to 32 years in state prison with prosecutors.

Bucher was wanted in connection with an earlier shooting on March 13 when Corporal Jeremy Crist of Harrisburg police pulled him over at around noon at the bustling intersection.

Bucher stepped out of the van and began to walk away, and when police told him to stop, Bucher continued to walk away. He then pulled out an Iver Johnson five-shot revolver and fired multiple shots at police, according to court records justifying criminal charges against Bucher.

Crist then fired back. Multiple bystanders, including a panhandler, fled for cover and swerved their vehicles as bullets were exchanged.

Around a dozen shots were fired in all, police said, including one that hit Bucher in the torso. After Bucher lowered his gun and tossed it into the street, police used a stun gun to detain him. Police wrote in charging documents he had resisted arrest at that point.

He was later discharged from the hospital into police custody.

Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo determined Crist had not committed a crime in returning fire on Bucher. Pennsylvania law allows police to use deadly force to overcome deadly force being used against them.

Bucher had a criminal history across multiple Pennsylvania counties, including charges involving resisting arrest and fleeing officers.

In 2016, he was arrested in Harrisburg by a state trooper at a vigil held for the victims of a mass shooting in Florida. He was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and drug possession.

He was arrested in 2018 and charged with criminal mischief, simple assault, resisting arrest, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, disorderly conduct, and public drunkenness after he threw objects toward police officers in the lobby of a Cumberland County motel.

Also in 2018, Bucher was arrested in Centre County for trying to fight with police officers in the lobby of a hotel after being involved in a domestic dispute.