Pa. House passes bill to name bridge after slain state trooper

EBENSBURG, Pa. (AP) — The state House has passed a bill to name a southwestern Pennsylvania bridge for a state trooper who was fatally shot by a man chased after a drunken traffic accident in 2002.

The Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown reports today that the bill renaming the bridge in Windber is going to the state Senate.

The bridge carrying 17th Street over Route 56 would be renamed the Joseph Sepp Memorial Bridge if the bill passes.

Sepp was just 34 and left behind three children when he was fatally shot by 54-year-old Mark Leach, of New Germany. Leach shot Joseph Sepp in the head after Leach refused to surrender after the accident and a low-speed chase on Nov. 9, 2002, in Ebensburg. Sepp died the next day.

Leach died in October 2011 while serving a life prison term.