Deputy Kyle Pagerly, 28, was shot and killed on 6/29/11 while trying to serve a warrant in Albany Township in Pennsylvania. The incident started at approximately 6:30 p.m. when state police, U.S. marshals and Berks County sheriff’s deputies serving as marshals went to the Pine Swamp Road address to arrest Matthew Connor on charges of burglary, criminal trespass, violations related to the sale of firearms, terroristic threats, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person. The charges were related to an incident two days earlier at two homes in the first block on Pine Swamp Road for threatening his father, his sister, girlfriend and a family friend visiting the home by firing several rounds from two different handguns into the ground in front of them and telling them “yeah you better run,”. Two days before the shootout, Connor had said he wouldn’t go down quietly. At one point, Connor put a revolver to his mouth acting as if he was going to shoot himself in front of his family. Upset that he ran out of ammunition from a revolver and a handgun, Connor went back into the family’s house and retrieved a bulletproof vest and a shotgun, which he fired several times before heading into the woods. He has threatened in the past to want to provoke the police so they would shoot him, suicide by cop. Connor’s father, Maurice, is a retired Cherry Hill, N.J., police officer. Matthew Connor ran out of the back of the house and into the woods while his girlfriend was talking to police. With authorities following him into the woods. As Canine Deputy, Kyle Pagerly, a Berks County sheriff’s K-9 member moved up over a rise in the terrain, Connor rose up in complete camouflage including his face had a camouflage mask, his hands in camouflage gloves, and he was armed with two guns, two knives, and large capacity magazines with an AK-47. Authorities told him to drop the weapon and when he didn’t, gunfire was exchanged killing Connor and mortally wounding Pagerly. After Pagerly was shot, Jynx grabbed his partner’s pants leg and tried to pull him to safety. Deputy Kyle Pagerly, who was wearing a vest was shot several times with at least one bullet the penetrated the vest, was pronounced dead at 8:44 p.m. at Lehigh Valley Hospital after being airlifted to the Salisbury Township facility. Matthew Connor, 25, of the first block of Pine Swamp Road, was killed at the scene. After the shooting Matthew Connor’s father gave police a suicide note left by his son. Pagerly served in the Army in Kosovo (2002) and Iraq (2003 and 2004). He was a military police officer. He joined the sheriff’s department in 2006, according to the website. The K-9 Corps was formed in 2008. He also was a lieutenant in the Spring Township Fire Department. His K9 German Shepherd partner “Jynx” was not injured. Pagerly’s badge number, 27, was permanently retired and K9 Jynx was retired from the force officially on 7/28/11 and given to the family. Jynx retired from the force with full benefits. His medical care, grooming, boarding and food have all been donated for the rest of his life. In the days after Pagerly’s death, Jynx would upend the clothes hamper, root out his T-shirts and sleep with them. Thousands attended Pagerly’s funeral. Hundreds of K9 officers and their dogs also gathered for the service. Pagerly’s K9 Jynx, sat with the fallen deputy’s family in the front row at the Sovereign Center for the service. K9 Jynx was presented with the Berks County Sheriff Department’s Medal of Honor for his lifesaving efforts on the night of the shooting. The Berks County Sheriff’s Department honor guard conducted a 21-gun salute and the playing of Taps. Approximately three thousand people attended Pagerly’s service. Kyle Pagerly is survived by his wife, Alecia Anne (Bird), whom he married December 12, 2007. who is three months pregnant with Savannah. Contributions may be made to the Kyle Pagerly Memorial Fund or the Berks County Sheriff’s Department Honor Guard Fund., Attn: Sheriff’s Dept, 633 Court St., Reading, PA 19601.
On June 30, 2014 a memorial was dedicated to Deputy Kyle Pagerly. Deputy Kyle Pagerly’s K9 Jynx died of cancer in February of 2020.
Maurice Connor, 72, and Jared Engleman, 28, who were accused of facilitating the death of a Berks County sheriff’s deputy Kyle Pagerly, ended in October of 2013 with mistrials for both in Berks County. Pretrial publicity forced the cases to be moved to another venue. Jurors will be selected for the trials again for both on March 4, 2014 and Senior Judge John Uhler will preside over both cases in the Northampton County Courthouse. The trials will run back to back. Berks County officials charged the two men for allegedly helping Matthew Connor acquire the assault rifle he used to fatally wound Berks County Sheriff’s Deputy Kyle Pagerly. Authorities believe Maurice Connor gave his 25-year-old son, Matthew Connor a handgun and $200 to buy a rifle. Engleman of Shoemakersville, Pa., allegedly sold Matthew Connor the AK-47 he used to kill Pagerly.
During Maurice Connor’s trial on March 4, 2014, after the trooper’s testimony, the trial went on a two-hour break. After it reconvened Maurice Connor was willing to accept a no-contest plea bargain. Maurice Connor’s plea agreement was to a charge of providing a firearm to a felon. By not contesting the allegation, he acknowledged that prosecutors could prove it beyond a reasonable doubt and treated the same as a guilty plea when the defendant is sentenced. In return for the deal, prosecutors agreed to drop additional charges, including illegal possession of a firearm and conspiracy to illegally possess a firearm, among others. York County Senior Judge John Uhler delayed sentencing until a pre-sentence report can be completed on Maurice Connor’s background.
