CATASAUQUA, Pa. (AP) - A prosecutor has ruled that a police officer was justified in shooting and killing an armed man in the basement of an eastern Pennsylvania home earlier this year.
Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said Tuesday the officer had a “clearly reasonable” belief that deadly force was needed to protect himself and other officers from death or serious injury when he opened fire on 27-year-old Ryan Shirey.
Authorities said Shirey and his father were in the Catasauqua home on Feb. 19 along with his ex-girlfriend, who is a caretaker for Shirey’s mother. The ex-girlfriend called police during an argument the older man described as “heated,” Martin said earlier.
State police said three Catasauqua officers responded and Shirey fled to the basement and got a revolver. Authorities said he was ordered to put down the gun but didn’t comply, after which he was shot.
Martin said the officers weren’t told prior to going down to the basement that there was a pistol there Shirey could access. He said the gun turned out to be unloaded, but officers had no way of knowing that and there was nothing to suggest that Shirey knew that, either.
Martin said he ruled the shooting justified after an extensive review of investigative reports, witness statements and body camera video.
After the shooting, Jeff Purdon, speaking for the Shirey family, said the family was devastated by the loss and didn’t believe Shirey was intent on hurting anyone. Purdon said Shirey battled mental health issues throughout his life and called him “a victim of a system that failed him.”
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