Coroner: Police-involved shooting in Latrobe was justified
Westmoreland County Coroner Ken Bacha ruled Tuesday that the police-involved fatal shooting of a Latrobe man nearly two years ago was justified.
“We have seen several incidents of law enforcement using deadly force,” Bacha said, referring to incidents around the nation where police have been accused of acting inappropriately. “This case is not one of those.”
Bacha made that comment just minutes after releasing results of his coroner's inquest into the July 19, 2013, death of Scott M. Murphy, who died from a gunshot wound of the head during a 17-hour standoff with police in Latrobe.
Bacha ruled police were “legally justified” when they shot and killed Murphy, 46, whose body was found slumped over in an upstairs bedroom at his mother's Lloyd Avenue home, one day after robbing a nearby pharmacy.
During the February inquest, police testified they attempted to coax Murphy from the home and eventually stormed the house as the standoff dragged on.
Murphy fired at police, and state Trooper Brian King was shot in the eye during the assault. Bacha said King has returned to active duty but remains blind in one eye.
Witnesses said police fired as many as 82 shots during the final assault, although the identity of the trooper who fired the shot that killed Murphy could not be identified.
District Attorney John Peck said investigators were only able to determine the fatal shot came from a police weapon. No charges will be filed against police, Peck said.
“It's a tragic and unfortunate event when someone is killed. Nevertheless, the state police showed remarkable restraint in order to get the defendant to give up and he would not, “ Peck said.
Lt. James Shaw, a crime section commander with the state police, said he concurred with the inquest findings.
“We welcome the independent inquest by the coroner and agree with his finding,” Shaw said.
During the standoff, police attempted to lure Murphy from the home, tried to contact him by phone and even used a robot in an attempt to clear the scene.
Police testified that once they finally breached the home, they were met with fire from Murphy, with one shot hitting King and forcing police to eventually retreat before a final assault was completed.
Murphy left behind a suicide note in which he apologized to his girlfriend.
The girlfriend, Julian Upholster, 27, of Latrobe, pleaded guilty last year charges that she stole the guns Murphy used in the robbery and standoff and was sentenced in May to serve 2 1⁄2 to 5 years in prison.
Bacha said the underlying cause of Murphy's death was drugs.
“I consider this to be a drug related-death due to a person's addiction and robbing a pharmacy to get the drugs he needed,” Bacha said.
Rich Cholodofsky is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.
