Shooting deemed justified by Wayne DA

Posted 8/21/12

HONESDALE, PA — Wayne County District Attorney (DA) Janine Edwards has ruled that the shooting of 21-year-old Derek DeGroat was justified. She said she believes that the troopers on the scene the …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Shooting deemed justified by Wayne DA

Posted

HONESDALE, PA — Wayne County District Attorney (DA) Janine Edwards has ruled that the shooting of 21-year-old Derek DeGroat was justified. She said she believes that the troopers on the scene the night of the incident on December 21, 2015, had “reasonable fear for their lives and the lives of others.”

She also announced at a press conference held at the courthouse on Thursday morning that the autopsy has been released with a finding of “suicide by cop.” It shows that DeGroat was shot 11 times, six in the legs and five in the upper body. He also had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .211%.

More information was released on what exactly happened that night. Eight troopers were dispatched to the scene, but only three troopers were involved in the shooting. DeGroat was armed with three long guns (which were later found to be unloaded), a machete and a hatchet. He was outside of the house when the troopers arrived, and began walking toward them. The troopers repeatedly asked him to drop his weapons, but DeGroat refused to do so. Edwards said they asked him approximately 17 times. DeGroat was shouting, “just [expletive] do it.” He then clearly started raising the muzzle of the long gun. In response, the troopers fired their weapons, which were semi-automatic rifles. There were 39 shots fired.

Edwards said she reviewed information from Pennsylvania State Police interviews of witnesses, 911 calls, the motor vehicle recordings of three patrol vehicles, a search warrant return, interviews with troopers involved, the coroner’s report and the autopsy to conclude her findings.

She wrote, “I find that the discharge of weapons by Corporal Felsman, Trooper Ast and Trooper Oakes on the night of December 21, 2015 was necessary to prevent the death of, or serious bodily injury to, themselves or others in close proximity.”

Family members of DeGroat have protested how the troopers handled the situation, and were at the courthouse during the DA’s conference, including DeGroat’s father Michael. They wore orange T-shirts with the number 11 on them, indicating the number of times DeGroat was shot. They believe the police used excessive force, in that they used semi-automatic rifles and fired 39 times when one shot can take someone down. They are calling for Derek’s Law, which would require a suicide prevention specialist to be dispatched with responding troopers to a mental health issue.

After the press conference, Michael said, “Eventually it will come out as excessive force.” He said there are still certain actions that are unanswered, including the footage from the police dash cams. He said they plan to take legal action to retrieve the footage.

He said they will continue to fight for Derek’s Law. “It’s definitely not over,” he said. “We’re going to pursue this; we’re going to fight this until the end.”

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here