Cops: Warlock on meth shoots woman then says "You know I love you"

A member of the Warlocks motorcycle club shot his girlfriend in the head last night after snorting meth and then smoking marijuana to come down from the meth, Upper Darby police said.

Following the shooting, neighbors told police they could hear the shooter, 31-year-old Michael DeLuca, say to his girlfriend: "Get up. You know I love you," according to Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.

But she didn't. Police said DeLuca's 19-year-old girlfriend remains hospitalized in stable but extremely critical condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania with a gunshot wound from a bullet that entered behind her left ear and exited through her left eyebrow,

Around 8:45 p.m., DeLuca, of West Chester Pike near State Road, called 911 and claimed that he was cleaning his gun when it accidentally discharged, striking his girlfriend, Chitwood said. However, when police arrived on scene DeLuca allegedly changed his story.

He told police that he was tattooing himself and smoking pot - to come down from some meth he'd snorted earlier - when he felt a gun in the small of his back, police said.

According to Chitwood, DeLuca's exact words to investigators were: "We were sitting on the couch smoking a bowl of marijuana while I was trying to put a tattoo on my arm. I felt something in the couch and I pulled out a gun. The trigger was back and I shot her in the head. It was an accident."

But police aren't buying his story. Chitwood said investigators believe the shooting was domestic, especially after talking to witnesses who claimed to have heard DeLuca calling his girlfriend profane names moments before he allegedly shot her.

"Then they heard a bang and something fell and they heard the male's voice saying 'Get up. You know I love you,'" Chitwood said.

The entire time, the victim's three-year-old son was in an apartment below with a neighbor, police said.

DeLuca has been on police's radar screen for sometime, both for his involvement with the Warlocks and for numerous arrests he's had over the years for offenses including robbery and aggravated assault, Chitwood said. While searching the couple's apartment, police said they found DeLuca's Warlocks motorcycle jacket.

"He brags about it. You don't have those types of jackets unless you're a member or you wind up dead," Chitwood said. "It's like impersonating a cop, except they kill you."

Chitwood said DeLuca was a convicted felon not to own a firearm. Police have traced the gun he allegedly used in the shooting to its original owner, who did not report it stolen. The investigation into the firearm continues.

DeLuca has a giant tattoo covering his neck of the letters "S.S.D.D." Chitwood said the letters stand for "Same sh*t, different day."

Now that he's in prison on $2.5 million bail on charges including attempted criminal homicide, that tattoo may take on a whole new meaning.

"He won't be riding his motorcycle for a while," Chitwood said.