Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele announced today that the investigation of the March 6 shooting at the Rosemore Gardens apartment complex in the Glenside section of Abington Township found that police officers’ use of force was deemed lawful.
The investigation was conducted by the Montgomery County Detective Bureau with involvement and cooperation from the Abington Township Police Department and the officers involved, Steele said. Detectives interviewed “numerous officers and witnesses, reviewed police body-worn cameras, recordings of the police radio transmissions, and the 911 call; and collected and tested on-scene evidence.”
The 911 caller, a female juvenile, said that her mother’s boyfriend, Wyleek Tinsley, who lived at the apartment, “just shot a gun at her. I don’t know if she’s hurt or not,” and told the dispatcher that a door in the apartment had been broken down.
The juvenile said she was fearful of being shot, and at the urging of the 911 dispatcher, the juvenile left the apartment, Steele said.
Abington police officers arrived on scene and heard a woman screaming. A gunshot was heard from inside the apartment, which prompted officers to force entry. A male, later identified as Tinsley, appeared and was holding an object, which was later determined to be a cellphone. Police discharged their weapons, fatally wounding Tinsley.
Police recovered a loaded firearm in the bedroom and two bullet holes were observed in the bedroom walls, Steele said.
The family of Tinsley publicly requested the release of police bodycam footage from the shooting last week.
Steele’s statement continues:
In Graham v. Connor (1989) 490 U.S. 386, the United States Supreme Court held that the reasonableness of the force used “requires careful attention to the facts and circumstances” of the particular incident “including the severity of the crime at issue, whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others, and whether he is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight” (Id., at 396). Further the Court stated, “[t]he “reasonableness” of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight” (Id., at 396). Moreover, “[t]he calculus of reasonableness must embody allowance for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments – in circumstances that are tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving – about the amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation.” (Id., at 396-397).
In Pennsylvania, the use of deadly force by a law enforcement officer is governed by Section 508 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code. A law enforcement officer is “justified in using deadly force only when he believes that such force is necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury to himself or such other person…” 18 Pa.C.S.A. §508(a). In addition, the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers is justified to defeat…the escape of a person who possesses a deadly weapon, or otherwise indicates that he will endanger human life or inflict serious bodily injury unless arrested without delay. 18 Pa.C.S.A. §508(a)(1)(i),(ii).
“Our role, under the law, is to evaluate the totality of the circumstances of a fatal shooting by police and make a determination whether the use of force was justified. In this case, the totality of the circumstances includes the fact that officers knew the juvenile said in her 911 call that she didn’t know whether her mother had been injured by the gunshots of her boyfriend. Police knew as they arrived on scene that the woman screamed, then they heard another gunshot from inside the apartment. Police knew that when they forced entry into the apartment, they saw a male step into the hallway holding an object. The time from the male’s last gunshot until the officers discharged their weapon was 17 seconds,” said DA Steele. “Our investigation determined the facts of this case supported the use of deadly force to prevent serious bodily injury to themselves and/or the female victim. Therefore, criminal charges against the officers involved are not warranted.”
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