BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP)
The man rocked side-to-side as he muttered incoherently with a knife in his hand. Every few minutes he looked up and grunted at the police officer in the doorway talking with him.
After the sixth time the officer told him to put down his knife, the man suddenly raised it and stepped toward the officer, who was about 12 feet away. The officer fired, killing him.
At that point in the story, Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Keven Selverian stopped. He had questions for those listening to the real-life incident.
Was the officer justified in using deadly force under those circumstances?
The man rocked side-to-side as he muttered incoherently with a knife in his hand. Every few minutes he looked up and grunted at the police officer in the doorway talking with him.
After the sixth time the officer told him to put down his knife, the man suddenly raised it and stepped toward the officer, who was about 12 feet away. The officer fired, killing him.
At that point in the story, Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Keven Selverian stopped. He had questions for those listening to the real-life incident.
Was the officer justified in using deadly force under those circumstances?
Was it justified if the autopsy revealed the man had a shattered ankle and most likely would have collapsed before reaching the officer?
Submitted by Gene Roach
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Jefferson Hills police Chief Gene Roach is calling it a career after nearly 40 years in law enforcement.
“It doesn’t seem like that much time has elapsed,” Roach said Monday. “As I look back on it now, 39 years is a long time, more than half of my life. It was quite a ride.”
Roach, 61, grew up in Washington. He said his relatives were not officers, and police work was something that just caught his interest.
“I just felt it was a direction that I wanted to go,” Roach said.
A vast majority of Pennsylvania businesses are following new mitigation orders from Gov. Tom Wolfâs administration that have temporarily closed many of their doors until Jan. 4 to try to get COVID-19 under control, according to the state police.
âItâs not the fault of restaurant and bar, or gym owners or their employees that COVID-19 spreads easily in these conditions â itâs the nature of the disease,â Ryan Tarkowski, communications director, Pennsylvania State Police, said.
Previously, the state police placed an emphasis on educating the general public about the COVID mitigation orders, focusing on personal responsibility and urging Pennsylvanians to do the right thing, he said.