No Bullet Recovered In Autopsy, Coroner Says
Bucks County Coroner Joseph Campbell said Marie Zienkewicz, 89, was shot 'through and through' and no bullet was recovered from her body.
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The Bucks County Coroner’s Office has completed the autopsy of the elderly neighbor killed in the crossfire during Tuesday’s shootout at the Jefferson on the Creek apartment complex.
According to Coroner Joseph Campbell, Marie Zienkewicz, 89, was killed by a single gunshot wound to the chest. He said the bullet entered Zienkewicz’s back through her right shoulder blade and exited through the left side of her chest.
“She was shot through and through,” he said Friday afternoon. “We did not recover a projectile.”
Zienkewicz was killed during a shootout when Andrew Cairns alegedly opened fire on Warminster police, who were responding to a domestic call at his apartment Tuesday. The police returned fire before Cairns barricaded himself inside his apartment. Zienkewicz was the downstairs neighbor of Cairns.
The investigation into to who fired the fatal bullet that killed Zienkewicz is ongoing.
Campbell said he could not confirm reports that Zienkewicz was found in a pool of blood, as his deputy did not go out to the scene during the time of the incident.
“At that point in the situation it was not a very safe environment [for us to enter],” he said.
Citing that his office was not on scene at the time, Campbell said he could not make any determination as to how long Zienkewicz may have been on the ground.
“She was removed from the scene by medics and pronounced [dead] in the ambulance,” he said. “She was then transported directly to our facility."
Campbell said the autopsy was completed Thursday and Zienkewicz’s body has been released to her family.
Related Stories:
- Warminster Gun Fight Victim Identified
- Woman Killed in Crossfire; Gunman Surrenders, Police Say
- Man Accused of Shooting at Police Held on $10 Million Bail
- Investigators Spend Day at Apartment Complex Crime Scene
- Bullet Pierces Home Several Hundred Feet From Shootout
- Concerned Gun Owners Meet During Shootout
Oscar Mayers
8:03 pm on Friday, February 22, 2013
Bologna
Oscar Myer
8:04 pm on Friday, February 22, 2013
Bologna
Joe Citizen
10:33 pm on Friday, February 22, 2013
Well, isn't that convenient ! Trigger-happy, lying, murdering bastards!
annoyed
11:21 pm on Friday, February 22, 2013
Very convienent, huh?
Proud to be an American
6:07 am on Saturday, February 23, 2013
Really? So why wasn't the bullet recovered at the scene? something doesn't smell right?
concerned citizen
9:30 am on Saturday, February 23, 2013
which tragectory did the bullet come from? Was it through the ceiling or through the front wall or window? Im gonna say it was from the front of the place because she was shot in back. The police saw movement in the apartment and opened fire striking the wrong person. Another day at the office and someone innocent pays with her life.
Laurie
12:00 pm on Saturday, February 23, 2013
big cover-up!!! everyone with a brain knows it was a cop with bad aim! afraid of a lawsuit by the family & they should be!!!
Zoey Lynne
3:55 pm on Saturday, February 23, 2013
i guess we should wait till all the facts come out. a sad situation no matter how you look at it. I'm sure this is not about a cover-up but about doing an exhaustive investigation.
Pete Krenshaw
4:22 pm on Saturday, February 23, 2013
I agree with you on this one Zoey. We should be waiting until ALL the facts are known before jumping to a conclusion. Our police offers deserve at least that and then some. They risk their lives ever day when they go to work, not knowing if this is the day they will be shot at. I am sure they are just as upset as the rest of us (probably more so) about the loss of an innocent life.
Bobz
7:10 am on Sunday, February 24, 2013
Sure Pete, Warminster police risk their lives every day when they go to work. We're not talking about Philly, Camden or Trenton here, those officers risk their lives everyday, that's a verifiable fact. Heck, you can probably count all the incidents of Warminster police being shot at on the job in the last 25+ years on one hand. BTW when was the last time you can recall a Warminster police officer on the job being injured or killed as the result of doing their job? The person that shot that woman deserves the same treatment and consideration as anyone in the same situation, police officer or not. However, if it were a civilian (police officers, their friends or family members get "special treatment," unlike the average Joe who has no connections), you know the police wouldn't feel the same way about not jumping to conclusions. If it was a police officer that fired the deadly shot, the main reason he would be upset is because he screwed up and will have to face the consequences, less so upset about the loss of an innocent bystander's life in comparison. I'm sure you'd hear a myriad of excuses if it turns out to be a cop, not valid reasons, but lame excuses to dismiss or assuage their apparent recklessness in the use of deadly force.
P. A. M.
4:44 pm on Saturday, February 23, 2013
They also risk citizens' innocent lives, through shoddy marksmanship and rash, recklessness like shooting at an unknown target. This apartment complex was inhabited by more that just the gunman. Poor, poor, police work.
Liberty 1
8:01 pm on Saturday, February 23, 2013
Too much time writing tickets for revenue raising and not enough time on the range.
Let's remember that this was due to another whack job.