Five Bensalem Township police officers were justified in fatally shooting an armed felon after a pursuit and standoff in January, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday afternoon.
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District Attorney Jennifer Schorn, in a letter to Bensalem Township Police Director of Public Safety William McVey, concluded that the officers “were reasonable in their individual beliefs that each of their lives were placed in clear and present danger” by Zachiry Derrek Kerschner, 30, of Lehighton, Carbon County.
The shooting occurred Jan. 24 after a traffic stop near Route 1 and Old Lincoln Highway in Bensalem Township led to a 35-minute vehicle pursuit through five jurisdictions and a two-hour standoff outside a gas station on Route 13 in the township.
During the standoff, Kerschner, who had a passenger in his vehicle, refused to comply with officers and vowed he would not return to jail, authorities said.
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Investigators found that Kerschner pointed a gun at his passenger, authorities said.
The tense standoff ended when Kerschner pointed a loaded handgun at officers, who then fired.
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Kerschner was taken by ambulance to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital in Philadelphia and pronounced dead there from his wounds.
Evidence collected at the scene included two firearms, with the one in Kerschner’s hand having a live round jammed in the chamber, authorities said.
Despite numerous rounds fired into the car by police, the passenger escaped injury.
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Schorn’s office said the investigation included reviewing police reports, crime scene analysis, body-worn camera and patrol car recordings, and a review of Kerschner’s criminal history.
The probe determined that the officers acted within the permissible scope of police use-of-force requirements in Bensalem Township and across Bucks County.
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“Despite the officers repeated directions to comply with police commands, Kerschner created a situation in which (the officers) had no other reasonable choice but to fire their weapons in defense of themselves, and others to neutralize what was a deadly and imminent threat,” Schorn wrote.
Kerschner had a lengthy criminal record and was on parole after serving three months of an 11 1/2- to 23-month sentence for felony gun possession in Philadelphia.
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Schorn noted that the sentence was significantly below state sentencing guidelines and that Kerschner should have still been incarcerated on the day of the Bensalem Township incident that led to his death from gunshot injuries.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
The investigation also revealed Kerschner was on active supervision with the Philadelphia Department of Adult Probation and Parole, but was not being supervised by a parole officer in the field due to staffing constraints. His sentence did not include conditions to address substance abuse, and his electronic monitoring device lacked GPS capabilities.
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Investigators said they found he had used methamphetamines and other illegal substances on the day of the standoff.
As is standard procedure in Bucks County, the district attorney’s office investigated the use of deadly force.
Schorn’s office said because no charges are being filed against the officers, their names are not being released.
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