Criminal Justice

Pa. Attorney Fatally Shot in Office Parking Lot

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A Pennsylvania lawyer at a plaintiffs personal injury firm was fatally shot today as he arrived at his Northampton Township office.

Initially unidentified in news reports, the attorney, who was reportedly shot in the head at point-blank range, was Eric Birnbaum, 51, according to FOX News.

Police are still looking for the shooter, and have appealed to the public for information, Bucks Local News reports. The article says those with information should call Northampton police at 215-322-6111.

Although not listed on the law firm’s website, Birnbaum worked for Terry D. Goldberg & Associates, according to both FOX and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Birnbaum reportedly spent 20 years at Philadelphia’s Slifkin & Axe before joining Goldberg & Associates in June.

The identity of his assailant at this point is unknown, the Inquirer reports. Police questioned a “person of interest” who was pulled over in a blue van matching the description of one in which a witness saw the suspect fleeing the scene. That driver was later cleared and released, FOX reports.

The shooting occurred at 9 a.m. in the parking lot of a strip shopping center in the Holland section of Northampton, according to news reports citing statements by First Assistant District Attorney David Zellis.

Zellis told the media that Birnbaum had parked his car and was walking to his office when a man with a handgun walked up behind him and shot him once in the back of the head.

Additional coverage:

ABC News (WPM-TV): “Suspect at large in lawyer killing”

Trentonian: “Bucks County lawyer killed outside law firm”

Last updated at 6:13 p.m. to include information from Bucks Local News.

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