A Whitehall Township police officer was shot in the line of duty early Saturday morning by a homeowner who'd been the victim of a burglary about 24 hours prior and was awaiting the return of those responsible, authorities announced.

The male, nine-year veteran of the force remained hospitalized in stable condition Saturday afternoon in the intensive care unit of an area hospital, township police Chief Michael Marks said.

The alleged shooter, 46-year-old William Sturtevant, of the 3000 block of Hokendauqua Street in the township, was hiding in a second-floor closet of a home he is trying to sell in the township's 4700 block of Main Street, Marks and Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said during an afternoon news conference.

"Fortunately the officer's in stable condition and his injury does not appear to be life-threatening," Martin said. "But Mr. Sturtevant is a very lucky man that he's not charged with a criminal homicide."

During the earlier burglary, which remained under investigation, an unspecified amount of copper pipe was taken from the unoccupied Main Street home.

About 2 a.m., Sturtevant dialed 911 to say he thought he heard footsteps.

"The owner of the unoccupied home reported to Lehigh County radio dispatch that he was on scene, intruders were inside the home and he was armed and hiding inside a closet," Marks said.

Police responded and found all the lights out. Officers announced their presence, and Lehigh County dispatch told Sturtevant via cellphone at least four times that police were on scene, authorities said.

Officers entered through an open rear door leading to the basement, announcing their entry. Sturtevant allegedly fired a shotgun from the first floor into the basement, wounding the one officer with pellets as officers came to the staircase to the first floor.

"It appears that he mistook the officers for the burglars that he anticipated encountering, but keep in mind that this was an unoccupied house and he used deadly force in an effort to protect property, which you can't do," Martin said.

Authorities were not identifying the officer.

"Whitehall police officers did not return fire or discharge their weapons at any time," Marks said.

Other officers provided emergency medical care and applied a tourniquet above the wound to help control the bleeding, Marks said. He was taken by ambulance for further treatment.

Police quickly took Sturtevant into custody.

He was scheduled to be arraigned in Lehigh County Central Booking on two felony counts of aggravated assault, felony assault of a law enforcement officer and misdemeanor reckless endangerment. The presiding district judge would set bail.

Sturtevant did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and Martin said he would not speculate on any condition that may have contributed to the incident.

"The fact of the matter is you can't be a vigilante and you shouldn't use or attempt to use deadly force to protect property," Martin continued later. "The result of that is that a police officer was injured in the line of duty."

Police were continuing to investigate the earlier burglary and asked anyone with information to call investigators at 610-437-3042.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.