The March 28 shooting of a man who twice pointed what appeared to be a handgun at Falls Township officers was justified, First Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Schorn announced on Tuesday, May 23, 2023.
The 20-year-old man survived the shooting and will be charged at a later time with felony fleeing and attempting to elude police and other related charges. That case will be prosecuted by Chief Deputy District Attorney Edward M. Louka.
In a letter to Falls Township Police Chief Nelson Whitney, Schorn wrote that the investigation by the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office concluded that the officers were reasonable in their individual beliefs that their lives were placed in clear and present danger at the time of the shooting, and they were justified in discharging their weapons and shooting the male, who suffered serious bodily injury from his gunshot wound.
The incident began with a routine traffic stop just after midnight on March 28. A male pointed what appeared to be a handgun at police on two separate occasions. At one point, he fled from police officers in his vehicle.