On a summer evening in 2009, 34-year-old Pennsylvania State Trooper Joshua Daniel Miller was killed in Coolbaugh Township after a domestic dispute escalated into a violent vehicle chase and shootout. The incident began when Daniel Autenrieth, who was under a protection-from-abuse order and armed, took his 9-year-old son from his ex-wife’s home. A roughly 40-mile pursuit across two counties ended when troopers executed a maneuver to stop Autenrieth’s vehicle.

As Trooper Miller and his partner, Trooper Robert Lombardo, approached the disabled car to rescue the child, Autenrieth opened fire. Miller was fatally wounded and Lombardo was injured; officers returned fire and Autenrieth was killed at the scene. Other officers were able to pull the boy from the car unharmed.

An investigation later tied the semi-automatic handgun used in the shooting to Emily Gross, who had illegally purchased the weapon and falsified information to do so. Gross pleaded guilty to a felony charge of persons not to possess firearms and was sentenced in August 2022 to 12 to 24 months in state prison. Does anyone have memories of Trooper Miller or information about the events that night to share?