Really sad example of "Suicide by Cop" gone wrong:
http://www.scrantontimes.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=2185&dept_id=415898&newsid=14600302
05/27/2005
Mom died saving girl
By Brian Clark and Josh Brodesky STAFF WRITERs
Erin Dermody was killed trying to protect her 6-year-old daughter.
The 40-year-old mother died in a shooting involving three city police officers that was ruled justified by the Lackawanna County District Attorney's office Thursday.
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Early Tuesday morning the three officers, whose names the city is withholding for privacy reasons, opened fire on Edward Nunn, 33, after he shot at them with a pellet gun that resembled a 9 mm semiautomatic gun, District Attorney Andy Jarbola said.
The officers had been responding to an armed robbery at the Convenient Food Mart, 1003 Prescott Ave. that occurred about 3:30 a.m. and was the second armed robbery Mr. Nunn allegedly committed that morning.
The store's owner Kushal Pal directed the three officers to an apartment at 1429 Ash St. after he spotted Mr. Nunn with Rosemarie Johnson, a former store employee and the apartment's tenant.
About 4:15 a.m., Ms. Johnson let the officers into the apartment where they found Mr. Nunn with his hands in his lap, sitting on a couch across from them, Mr. Jarbola said.
Ms. Dermody and her daughter sat on a separate couch a few feet away. After letting the officers into the apartment, Ms. Johnson sat on a seat on the other side of Mr. Nunn. Ms. Johnson's teenage child was also in the apartment.
Police ordered Mr. Nunn to show his hands, Mr. Jarbola said. He moved his hands and pointed the pellet gun at the officers.
Police drew their weapons.
Within seconds, Mr. Nunn shot the pellet gun and the officers responded, firing 11 times, killing Ms. Dermody with a shot to the leg and striking Mr. Nunn six times in the head, face, hand, stomach and leg, Mr. Jarbola said.
Although it is unclear if her daughter would have been shot, Ms. Dermody attempted to shield her from the bullets, Mr. Jarbola said.
"That was her intention at least," he said. "Covering for this little girl on the couch, and in the incident she got shot in the back of the leg. Unfortunately she got hit in the femoral artery and bled to death."
Mr. Jarbola said police officers are justified in using lethal force whenever they think their lives are in danger, and he said the pellet gun has a striking resemblance to an actual 9 mm semiautomatic.
"These are split second decisions that are made in rapid succession in a dim lit area," said Ray Hayes, the city's public safety director. Weapons are only fired when officers are in a position of fear of serious injury or death. They fire their weapons to stop the action. That's the way it's looked at. That the training mode that they're taught."
Mr. Jarbola said Mr. Nunn's alleged actions precipitated the fatal shooting and his office is considering filing a charge of involuntary manslaughter against him.
"The actions of Mr. Nunn caused this particular incident, and as a result of his action Erin Dermody died," he said.
http://www.scrantontimes.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=2185&dept_id=415898&newsid=14600302
05/27/2005
Mom died saving girl
By Brian Clark and Josh Brodesky STAFF WRITERs
Erin Dermody was killed trying to protect her 6-year-old daughter.
The 40-year-old mother died in a shooting involving three city police officers that was ruled justified by the Lackawanna County District Attorney's office Thursday.
Advertisement
Early Tuesday morning the three officers, whose names the city is withholding for privacy reasons, opened fire on Edward Nunn, 33, after he shot at them with a pellet gun that resembled a 9 mm semiautomatic gun, District Attorney Andy Jarbola said.
The officers had been responding to an armed robbery at the Convenient Food Mart, 1003 Prescott Ave. that occurred about 3:30 a.m. and was the second armed robbery Mr. Nunn allegedly committed that morning.
The store's owner Kushal Pal directed the three officers to an apartment at 1429 Ash St. after he spotted Mr. Nunn with Rosemarie Johnson, a former store employee and the apartment's tenant.
About 4:15 a.m., Ms. Johnson let the officers into the apartment where they found Mr. Nunn with his hands in his lap, sitting on a couch across from them, Mr. Jarbola said.
Ms. Dermody and her daughter sat on a separate couch a few feet away. After letting the officers into the apartment, Ms. Johnson sat on a seat on the other side of Mr. Nunn. Ms. Johnson's teenage child was also in the apartment.
Police ordered Mr. Nunn to show his hands, Mr. Jarbola said. He moved his hands and pointed the pellet gun at the officers.
Police drew their weapons.
Within seconds, Mr. Nunn shot the pellet gun and the officers responded, firing 11 times, killing Ms. Dermody with a shot to the leg and striking Mr. Nunn six times in the head, face, hand, stomach and leg, Mr. Jarbola said.
Although it is unclear if her daughter would have been shot, Ms. Dermody attempted to shield her from the bullets, Mr. Jarbola said.
"That was her intention at least," he said. "Covering for this little girl on the couch, and in the incident she got shot in the back of the leg. Unfortunately she got hit in the femoral artery and bled to death."
Mr. Jarbola said police officers are justified in using lethal force whenever they think their lives are in danger, and he said the pellet gun has a striking resemblance to an actual 9 mm semiautomatic.
"These are split second decisions that are made in rapid succession in a dim lit area," said Ray Hayes, the city's public safety director. Weapons are only fired when officers are in a position of fear of serious injury or death. They fire their weapons to stop the action. That's the way it's looked at. That the training mode that they're taught."
Mr. Jarbola said Mr. Nunn's alleged actions precipitated the fatal shooting and his office is considering filing a charge of involuntary manslaughter against him.
"The actions of Mr. Nunn caused this particular incident, and as a result of his action Erin Dermody died," he said.
