Town pays $650,000 to family of woman, 89, shot by police

WARMINSTER, Pa. (AP) — A Philadelphia suburb is paying a $650,000 settlement to the family of an 89-year-old woman accidentally shot and killed by its police department during a standoff with a drunken suspect.

Marie Zienkewicz was caught in the crossfire in February 2013 as Warminster police confronted suspect Andrew Cairns at an apartment complex. He is serving 14 to 30 years in state prison.

The Bucks County Courier Times obtained the settlement through a public records request and published details today.

The agreement calls for the township to provide officers with critical-incident training and donate books in Zienkewicz's memory to the local library.

Investigators say Cairns traded shots with police after a dispute with his girlfriend and barricaded himself in his apartment for hours before surrendering.

Zienkewicz lived in the apartment below.