Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Two Falls Township police officers were cleared in a March shooting that left a man with life-threatening injuries, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said late Tuesday morning.
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Bucks County First Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Schorn made the call to clear the two Falls Township officers who shot a man after he pointed what appeared to be a handgun at them.
A letter clearing the officers, who were placed on paid leave during the investigation, was sent to Falls Township police Chief Nelson Whitney to inform him of the decision.
In a statement, the district attorney’s office said “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.”
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“Additionally, both officers acted within the permissible scope of Falls Township Police use-of-force requirements, and the use-of-force best practices guidelines adopted by all Bucks County Police Departments in November 2020,” the district attorney’s office said.
An investigation determined the man was holding a CO2 air gun made to look like a Glock handgun, but the officers were unable to tell the difference at the time, authorities said.
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The name of the man who was shot but survived and the officers was not released. However, the district attorney’s office said it plans to charge the man with fleeing and attempting to elude police and other related offenses.
The district attorney’s office provided an overview of the incident:
“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.
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“After the male was shot, police secured the firearm and rendered aid on the male until paramedics arrived.“
LevittownNow.com previously exclusively reported police made a traffic stop along Lincoln Highway. The man then fled and led officers on a pursuit that ended in the area of New Ford Mill and Steel roads. The shooting took place at that location.
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The officers were unhurt.
The wounded man was taken by ambulance from the scene to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton. He underwent surgery for the gunshot injuries and will recover.
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Following standard procedure, the Bucks County Detectives investigated the shooting and presented their evidence to Schorn, who made the final call.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
“We’ve reviewed all the pertinent material and have decided that the officers involved in this shooting were justified in using deadly force, and therefore won’t be charged with any crimes,” Schorn said in a statement.
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The CO2 air gun was touted in an ad as “compact and handy with the unmistakable look of the original pistol and plenty of power,” Schorn said.
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