By Diane Petryk
SUNBURY — A Sunbury police officer's wife was killed after being shot multiple times in an apparent domestic dispute Saturday, and he was gravely injured.
Robin Lee Miller, 38, was pronounced dead at their 454 Catawissa Ave. home at 2:50 a.m. by Northumberland County Coroner's Deputy James Gotlob.
Her daughters, ages about 5 and 18, were home at the time.
Cpl. Michael Miller, 37, was listed in critical condition in the intensive care unit at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, as of 9:30 p.m. Saturday. State police, however, listed the incident as a double fatality due to gunfire by 7 a.m.
The incident occurred on the back patio of the couple's house, said Matt Burrows, a state police trooper from the Milton station.
A 9 mm handgun is believed to have been the only weapon used, Burrows said.
Sunbury Mayor Dave Persing said the weapon used was not Miller's service revolver.
Sunbury Police Chief Steven Mazzeo said Saturday he could not comment on the case because it is being handled by state police, other than to say it is "a terrible tragedy all the way around." Mazzeo also declined to talk about Miller's employment record. Persing, however, said Miller "” who had already made corporal "” was preparing to take a test this week to qualify to become a sergeant.
"There was no reason" anybody knew for the incident, Persing said.
The children are staying with their grandmother, Burrows said. The eldest teen is Mrs. Miller's daughter from a previous marriage. Another daughter from that marriage, about age 13, was staying that night at her father's home in Upper Augusta Township, Persing said.
According to Robin Miller's Facebook page, she and Miller were married in 2008.
It was her 18-year-old daughter who called 911, Persing said.
Neighbor Madeline Diaz, who lives nearby on Catawissa Avenue, saw Miller and his young daughter hours before the shooting.
"He was walking with his daughter. Everything was nice," she said Saturday.
Diaz said she never heard arguments or disturbances from the Miller residence.
Neighbor Pete Solomon, who lives across Catawissa Avenue, said he knew Michael Miller was a police officer and that the marriage was Robin Miller's second. He said he didn't hear anything, and was alerted to the incident only when he saw police and emergency vehicle lights flashing about 3 a.m.
A neighbor directly behind the Miller home said his wife heard three gunshots in the middle of the night.
But another neighbor, across the street, said his high school-aged daughter heard six or seven shots.
"They were like firecrackers," he said.
The Millers, he said, once rented the house next door to him and they were nice neighbors.
"I never saw anyone fight or anything," he said.
The Millers' residence has a large in-ground swimming pool they and often entertained neighbors' children with their children, he said.
Police searched the property until nearly noon Saturday, from the back door to the rear of the pool area.
The incident has apparently stunned Sunbury police, with officers, their wives and friends talking about it throughout the morning and afternoon along Market Street and at various diners and lounges in town.
Persing said the city has made counseling available to all officers.
"We're very concerned about the families of the victims as well," Persing said. "We extend our deep sympathy to their families, particularly the children."
As Robin Miller's two sisters arrived at their parents' home on North Fourth Street Saturday afternoon, a neighbor there said Robin's mother, Virginia Prentice, called to tell her about the tragedy that morning.
"We're all very upset," the neighbor said, shaking her head.
Friends of Robin Miller and her father, Dave Prentice, at American Legion Post 201, were also perplexed Saturday. Prentice is a Post 201 member and officer and Robin Miller worked there at times as a cook, bartender and waitress.
"She was bubbly and vivacious and well-liked," said Legion Cmdr. Tony Steimling. "Everyone was her friend."
Michael Miller was also very happy-go-lucky, he said.
"It just floored us," Steimling said. "We never expected such a thing."
For the surviving children and Prentice family, he said: "We're here for them and we're thinking of them."
Robin Miller was a 1989 graduate of Shiklellamy High School. She had begun, in January, as a part-time student at Central Susquehanna LPN Career Center, according to administrator Beverly Krieger.
At least one Sunbury police officer, Travis Bremigen, was at Geisinger, where Michael Miller was hospitalized. State police were there as well, and the investigation is ongoing, according to the Stonington headquarters.
"It's a sad situation," Sunbury Councilman Jim Eister said. Michael Miller, he said, "was a perfect gentleman and a good friend of mine."
As to the reason, he suspected, "We'll never know."
The incident is being investigated by Stonington and Milton state police. Sunbury, Selinsgrove, Northumberland Borough, Mount Carmel Borough, Mahoning Township and Point Township police assisted Saturday morning, along with the Northumberland County District Attorney's office and the Northumberland County Coroner and Americus Hose Company.
In March 2009, Miller was among five officers publicly commended by the city for assisting Northumberland police in capturing a barricaded and armed man without incident.
Coroner James Kelley announced Saturday that an autopsy and toxicology testing will be performed on Robin Miller at 8 a.m. Monday at Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown.
At Pop Snyder's Saturday, Ronnie Rothermel said Michael Miller had been scheduled to be in a billiards tournament Saturday night.
Saturday's homicide was the first in Sunbury since Crystal M. Scholl-Gordon and David A. Moore were murdered in a house on the 200 block of North Front Street on Jan. 18, 2008. Michael A. Harrell is accused in those slayings and remains in Northumberland County Prison. It was also the first homicide in Northumberland County involving a police officer, or former police officer, and his wife since Richard C. Curran shot Tina Curran multiple times in the parking lot of Shamokin Area Community Hospital in August 2005.
