The reflections of newly retired Norristown Police Chief Bono
Chief Russell J. Bono's last day of work at the Norristown Police Department was yesterday. He reflects on his 42 years in the department, the last 15 heading it.
A single light bulb illuminated the stairway landing outside Walter H.G. Baker's dark second-floor bedroom in Norristown. Against that harsh light, Baker later told police, he could see the silhouette of a man stepping into his doorway at 3:30 a.m. Oct. 11.
He raised his .38-caliber blue-steel handgun and fired two quick shots, watching as the figure in the doorway crumpled out of view.
"I'm sure I hit him with one of the first two shots," Baker said in a signed statement given less than three hours later at the Norristown Police Department. But the 53-year-old handyman said he didn't realize at first that he had fatally wounded a police officer.