PHILADELPHIA — A 52-year-old man who had posted violent threats against police was shot and killed by officers Tuesday as they tried to arrest him in Drexel Hill. When officers confronted Joseph A. Pacini of Clifton Heights and ordered him to get out of his car, he instead gunned his Nissan sedan into reverse and struck a police vehicle, according to Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.

Five officers then opened fire. “The officers were in fear of their lives and did what they had to do,” Chitwood said. “He threatened to kill police, threatened to kill FBI agents.”

The shooting near the intersection of Garrett Road and Shadeland Avenue erupted as rush hour was beginning in a well-traveled section of Drexel Hill. Stray bullets apparently shattered the front door of a bank branch and hit the window of a medical office, but no one else was injured.

It was not clear if Pacini was armed, although Chitwood said he used his car as a weapon. Chitwood said that when Pacini slammed the Nissan into the police cruiser, he narrowly missed Clifton Heights Police Chief Tim Rockenbach.

Pacini had a history of mental illness and commitments, according to Chitwood. And he had made clear in YouTube rants that he was prepared to kill or be killed. “There is no way that I am going to allow anyone to take my freedom away again, OK?” Pacini said in one video, recorded Monday. “Believe it. It's a fact. So I will immediately take out whomever attempts this on the spot. That means you'll have to kill me on the spot.”

Court records show Haverford Township police had lodged charges Tuesday against Pacini of terroristic threats, harassment, and other offenses. According to a source, Haverford police first learned about Pacini on Monday, when an employee at the LA Fitness club on West Chester Pike called to report a member acting “irrationally.” An officer later reached out to Pacini by phone.

In his videos, Pacini replayed a message he received Monday from Haverford Detective Albert M. Hufnal about the incident at the fitness club. Then, looking into the cameras, he said: “Clearly these guys want me dead or in prison, and there's no way in hell I'm going back in prison. No (expletive) way. So to the police, to the FBI, to the CIA agents, I'm not taking a fall for my family anymore, OK? This time, the Sicilian code is now busted. I'm opening my mouth, right here, right now, at 5:37 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 29, 2014, this is my coming-out party. So you're going to try to bring me down? I will (expletive) kill you and your whole (expletive) family, all right? So go ahead and (expletive) with me, all right? Try it.”