Cop Cleared After Shooting Armed Levittown Man

John Thomas Mathis. Credit: Bristol Township police

A Bensalem Township police officer was justified in shooting a Levittown man during an August road-rage incident in which the man pulled a gun on a motorist and then pointed it at the officer.

Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn announced Monday morning the officer was justified in firing his weapon because he was reasonable in his belief that his life and the lives of others were in “clear and present danger.”

The officer’s name has not been released.

Schorn’s decision to clear the officer followed an investigation by Bucks County Detectives that included a review of police and witness statements, body-worn camera footage, and nearby security system video.

The officer was also found to have acted within the permissible scope of Bensalem Township Police use-of-force requirements, the district attorney’s office said.

The incident began on Aug. 2 at approximately 5:43 p.m. when a motorist called 9-1-1 to report a man, later identified as 44-year-old John Thomas Mathis, of Bristol Township’s Levittown section, had pointed a handgun at his face and threatened to rob him on Route 13, authorities said.

When the officer arrived, he positioned his patrol car to protect the victim, police said.

Witnesses reported hearing the officer issue verbal commands before they saw Mathis run from his motorcycle, police said.

According to the investigation, Mathis had his gun in his hand, holding it in a reverse-style grip and aiming it in the direction of the officer, who then fired three shots, striking Mathis.

Multiple officers quickly arrived to render medical aid, and a black handgun was recovered at the scene, according to authorities.

Mathis sustained two gunshot wounds to his left shoulder blade area and one to his right armpit, police said.

Mathis survived his injuries and was charged with several offenses, including the Aug. 2 armed confrontation and the armed robbery of a cellphone store that occurred an hour earlier in Philadelphia.

“These facts are quite concerning in that this individual terrorized a clerk at a cell phone store and then terrorized two individuals just randomly driving on a Saturday evening in the summer, putting all of them in fear for their life,” Schorn said at a press conference last month.

According to Bucks County Detectives, an hour before he was shot, Mathis allegedly committed a gunpoint robbery at a Philadelphia cell phone shop, fleeing on a motorcycle with $944 cash.

A Bucks County Probation and Parole Department officer later identified Mathis from surveillance video. The officer told detectives that Mathis had also cut off his GPS ankle monitor and absconded before the robbery.

At the time of the shooting, Mathis was already facing charges for a separate July 27 road rage incident in Bristol Township, as well as numerous other outstanding court matters.

Mathis has been remanded to Bucks County Correctional Facility, and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for next month. He is being held on 10 percent of $3 million bail.

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