TORONTO, July 31 (UPI) -- A Toronto librarian is being held on charges that he shot a police officer in Chicago in 1969 and then fled the country while free on bail.
The United States is seeking the extradition of Joseph Pannell, who had been living in Canada under the name Douglas Freeman. U.S. authorities say that Pannell shot Officer Terrence Knox 13 times after the officer asked him what he was doing outside a Chicago school. Officials describe Pannell as a former member of the Black Panthers.
Pannell faces three attempted murder charges.
Pannell, 55, has been working at the Metro Toronto Reference Library for 13 years, and is married and has two children. He was arrested as he left work Tuesday night and originally charged with living illegally in Canada.
"This is obviously going to be a major political trial," defense lawyer Gary Segal told the Toronto Globe and Mail.
