SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — The Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office said a man fatally shot by township police last month died by "suicide by cop."
District Attorney Gavin Holihan said Gary J. Moyer 73, of South Whitehall, left a note among his final words saying, “Please convey my apologies to the officer who gets stuck shooting me.”
In a release Friday, Holihan said Moyer self-initiated a sequence of behaviors expecting that his actions would lead to his own death.
Holihan concluded that all actions of members of the South Whitehall Township Police Department were justified and all force used was appropriate.
In a separate release, Lehigh County Coroner Dan Buglio said while the manner of death was homicide, or the killing of one person by another, it was clear “Mr. Moyer acted in a threatening manner with the intent to provoke law enforcement, a situation commonly referred to as 'suicide by cop.'"
Details of the incident
Holihan said the incident began about 1 p.m. on May 28 when Moyer made an anonymous call to 911 indicating that a man in the 100 block of North 38th Street was shooting people with a rifle.
When asked by the 911 dispatcher for details, Moyer described the “shooter” as “just one person” — a man in his 60s or 70s shooting at people with a rifle.
Holihan said in retrospect, it was clear the call was fictitious and designed to draw an immediate police response.
An investigation would later determine that Moyer made the 911 call and described himself; a 73-year-old man who would later appear, alone, with a rifle. When he encountered several officers, he was carrying a single shot .32-caliber rifle, the release said.
Holihan said detectives later determined the rifle was non-operable, but at the time of the incident, officers did not know the rifle held by Moyer was incapable of discharging ammunition.
The investigation revealed officers gave Moyer repeated verbal commands to drop the rifle. When he did not comply, officers fired bean bag rounds, striking Moyer in the thigh area.
Moyer then raised his weapon and pointed it towards the officers’ position. Three officers fired at Moyer as he refused commands, and Moyer suffered a total of seven gunshot wounds.
“I have determined that the use of force by all members of SWTPD during this incident was justified and no charges will be filed against anyone who used force; deadly or otherwise,” Holihan said in the release, adding it was “inaccurate and unfair to attribute this death to the officers involved.”
The incident was investigated by the District Attorney’s Office Homicide Task Force, the Pennsylvania State Police Forensic Services Unit, the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office, the Lehigh County Firearm and Tool Mark Laboratory, with assistance from the Allentown Police Department.
