Police shooting in East Vandergrift justified, says DA
Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli has found police were justified in fatally shooting a suspect during a February raid in East Vandergrift.
Ziccarelli announced her ruling Tuesday, marking the first official public account of why authorities opened fire on Lyle Cessna, 52. TribLive previously obtained court documents detailing the incident.
“The District Attorney’s Office completed a thorough review and analysis of the evidence, police reports and witness statements, and DA Ziccarelli determined the use of force was reasonable due to the immediate threat of serious bodily injury and/or death to the officers if deadly force was not used,” the office said in a statement.
Pennsylvania code permits law enforcement to use deadly force if they believe “that such force is necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury” to themselves or others. Deadly force also is justified to stop a person carrying a lethal weapon or otherwise presenting an immediate and serious risk to the public.
Cessna died March 3 at UPMC Presbyterian hospital after more than two weeks in critical condition.
He was awaiting a preliminary hearing in Armstrong County Court on a second-degree felony incest charge.
Members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task force, a mix of federal agents and state police, surrounded Cessna’s second-floor apartment about 7 a.m. Feb. 14 to take him into custody on the charge.
The district attorney’s account has Cessna leaving his apartment at 7:27 a.m. and walking to McKinley Avenue, the main drag in tiny East Vandergrift. Task force members ordered him to the ground, the statement continued.
As officers and agents approached Cessna, he pulled a handgun out of his jacket and put it to his head, authorities said.
Task force members struck Cessna in the abdomen with “less-than-lethal” projectiles in a failed bid to subdue him, according to the district attorney’s office.
Cessna then pulled the trigger while still holding the gun to his head, but it malfunctioned, authorities said.
He turned it on law enforcement afterward and was shot three times in response, according to the statement.
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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