An ex-cop wanted for child rape was killed in a shootout with Lower Merion Township Police early Wednesday morning near the campus of St. Joseph’s University, law enforcement officials said.
Officers encountered 38-year-old Francis Connell Collier at around 3:45 a.m. on Old Lancaster Road near City Avenue in Bala Cynwyd, after spotting his car, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
Court records show that the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office charged Collier on Tuesday with child rape, indecent assault of a child younger than 13 years old, incest of a minor and related crimes.
Collier was returning to his vehicle, and, when Lower Merion police confronted him, he began shooting, the DA’s Office said in a statement. The officers returned fire, and Collier was fatally wounded, investigators added.
There was no word on any other injuries. County detectives are investigating the incident, in line with officer-involved shooting protocols, according to the DA’s Office.
An online docket sheet indicated that Collier’s alleged offenses occurred in December 2025 in Upper Darby Township; however, the Morton Borough Police Department, in a statement, said that the incident in question “took place many years ago when Francis Collier may have been a teenager.”
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office declined to provide details about the case, noting that the suspect had not been taken into custody or arraigned.
Collier was a police officer in Morton until he resigned on Dec. 19, 2025, the department said. He had been placed on unpaid administrative leave earlier that month after police were informed of the investigation, officials said.
The MPD said there have been no allegations against Collier during his time as a police officer in the Delaware County borough.
“The Morton Police Department is deeply troubled by the serious allegations against a former officer,” the department continued. “The conduct described in the charges is profoundly disturbing and wholly inconsistent with the standards and values expected of those who serve our community.”
