A man who shot at a police officer outside the King of Prussia Mall will spend decades in prison

A gunman who opened fire at a police officer outside the King of Prussia Mall during the holiday shopping rush in 2022, sending onlookers ducking for cover and screaming in fear for their lives, will spend decades in prison, a judge ruled Friday.

Andrew Wiley shot at an Upper Merion police officer who responded to the scene of a fender bender at the popular shopping mecca, sending bullets flying and frightening drivers stuck in traffic and diners at the nearby Seasons 52 steak house.

The gunfire was close enough, prosecutors said Friday, that one person who witnessed it likened it to the shootout between lawmen and outlaws at the O.K. Corral.

Montgomery County Court Judge William Carpenter, in sentencing Wiley to 25-to-50 years in state prison, said his behavior that day made clear that he posed a danger to the community.

“This case comes down to who will protect the protectors,” the judge said. “There was simply no justification, nor excuse, for what he did. Police gave him no reason to do what he did. He did it for his own purpose.”

Wiley, of Southwest Philadelphia, was convicted of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, reckless endangerment, and gun offenses after a three-day trial in November.

In an apology Friday to the officer he shot at, Cpl. Scott Samuels, and his family, Wiley said his actions that day were aberrant and not reflective of his character.

“I am not an evil individual,” said Wiley, 29. “I am a hardworking young man who made a mistake, a huge mistake.”

The incident began when Wiley tried to flee the minor crash he caused because he didn’t have insurance, according to prosecutors. He drove away from a bike patrol officer summoned to the scene by the owner of the vehicle he hit, but couldn’t leave the mall property because of the bumper-to-bumper holiday shopping traffic.

Samuels, in a marked patrol car, was able to catch up to him and attempted to pull him over. Wiley drove over an embankment in an attempt to escape, dropping four feet and totaling his car in the parking lot of the Seasons 52 steak house. There, Wiley got out of the car, holding an unregistered, 9mm ghost gun he later said he bought on the streets of Philadelphia for $600.

Wiley fired four times at Samuels, who shot back and struck Wiley in his right ankle and leg. Samuels was not injured, and the shooting was later ruled justified by Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele.

Wiley’s attorney, Benjamin Cooper, said during the trial that his client suffered from depression and other mental health issues, and called the shooting a suicide attempt. It was never Wiley’s intention, he said, to hurt Samuels or anyone else.

“He panicked, he was scared, he reacted because of his mental condition, so he didn’t perceive it the way we perceive it,” Cooper said. “For whatever reason, whether he panicked or he thought they were getting him, doesn’t mean he intended to kill.”

Assistant District Attorney Tanner Beck, in arguing Friday for the maximum sentence against Wiley, disputed that. The gunfight between Wiley and Samuels, he said, showed “how cheaply [Wiley] values human life.”

“If he’s willing to take the life of another, to try and kill a police officer, over a traffic ticket,” Beck said, “what’s going to happen the next time, if he’s given a lesser sentence?”

Samuels’ wife, Stephanie, testified Friday that receiving the call from her husband in the aftermath of the shooting sent a chill down her spine, a memory that still haunts her years later. At the time, she said, she was seven months’ pregnant with her second son, and the thought of losing her husband flooded her with fear.

And while she said she sympathizes with Wiley’s mental-health struggles, she was clear about her anger toward him.

“How dare you?” she asked. “How dare you do this to my family, to my children? I can only believe that you are a coward.”

Wiley’s mother, Yasmine, took the stand after Samuels and apologized to her, mother-to-mother, about the pain her son had caused.

“He was wrong, without a shadow of a doubt, but he’s not the man he’s been made out to be. He is not malicious,” Wiley said. “It’s heartbreaking for me. I can only imagine what it’s like for you, as a mother.”

After the sentence was handed down and Wiley’s son was led away in handcuffs, she and Samuels spoke to each other in the courtroom, sharing their feelings in an emotional exchange.