Suspect shot last month in East Vandergrift police raid dies
The man shot and critically wounded by police last month during a raid on his East Vandergrift apartment has died.
Lyle Cessna, 52, died Monday afternoon at UPMC Presbyterian hospital, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office.
He was awaiting a preliminary hearing in Armstrong County Court on a second-degree felony incest charge.
The medical examiner’s report is the first time authorities have publicly identified Cessna as the target of the Feb. 14 raid by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force.
However, court records obtained by TribLive detailed the incident beyond what Pennsylvania State Police, who are leading the investigation, had announced.
About 7 a.m. that morning, the task force, composed of federal marshals and state troopers, surrounded Cessna’s second-floor apartment above the post office on McKinley Avenue.
Police said Cessna then left his apartment and went to his truck.
When police ordered him to stop, he pulled a gun, pointed it at his head and pulled the trigger, but the gun malfunctioned, according to a search warrant issued after the raid says.
Cessna then pointed the gun at authorities and was shot in response, the warrant states.
Jack Troy is a TribLive reporter covering the Freeport Area and Kiski Area school districts and their communities. He also reports on Penn Hills municipal affairs. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in January 2024 after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh. He can be reached at jtroy@triblive.com.
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