Allegheny
County sheriff's deputy involved in fatal shooting tested positive for cocaine
Police and other law
enforcement officers investigate the scene of a Jan. 6 shooting in Knoxville
that occurred when authorities went to serve an arrest warrant at a home.
By Paula Reed Ward and Liz
Navrati / PittsburghPost-Gazette
An Allegheny County sheriff's
deputy tested positive for cocaine in the hours after he was involved in the
fatal shooting of a suspect last month.
Deputy Richard Dwyer has
received notice of termination and will go through the grievance process as
part of his union rights, officials said.
It’s unclear how much cocaine
was in Deputy Dwyer’s system the morning of Jan. 6, when members of a federal
fugitive task force went to the Knoxville home of Leslie Sapp III, 47, to
arrest him on charges that he sexually assaulted a child. Officials said Sapp
confronted officers with an airsoft gun, and several of them opened fire,
including Deputy Dwyer.
Sheriff’s department policy
requires that any officer who discharges a weapon undergo drug testing. In this
case, the urine test for Deputy Dwyer came back positive for cocaine.
District Attorney Stephen A.
Zappala Jr. said Wednesday that Sheriff William P. Mullen ‘‘briefed me
personally as soon as he got the results back on this.’’
Mr. Zappala said he had not yet
seen the test results, as the sheriff requested that he get a subpoena to
obtain them.
‘‘We have not reached a
conclusion as to whether that affected the [deputy's] cognitive abilities,’’
Mr. Zappala said, noting that he plans to consult with a toxicologist after he
receives the test results to try determine whether Deputy Dwyer was intoxicated
at the time of the shooting.
‘‘If an officer is under the
influence of drugs and it affects his cognitive skills and somehow this person
is dead because he didn’t react properly because of those drugs, that could be
involuntary manslaughter,’’ the district attorney said.
Deputy Dwyer did not return a
call seeking comment.
Mr. Zappala and Pittsburgh
police Chief Cameron McLay, whose officers are leading the investigation, said
that detectives continue to gather evidence.
The district attorney said task
force members consistently described a scenario in which Sapp, armed with a
black gun that shoots pellets, walked down a set of stairs toward the officers
‘‘with both hands on what they believed to be a weapon.’’
It’s unclear who shot first.
Detectives found 15 shell
casings from four weapons, Mr. Zappala said. Seven shots struck Sapp. Mr.
Zappala said the fatal shot, which traveled upward through Sapp’s heart, was
fired by someone using a .40-caliber gun. He said Deputy Dwyer used a
.45-caliber gun.
Although officials are
considering the shot to the heart the fatal wound, ‘‘There are theories that
being hit seven times, the accumulation of that many hits was fatal,’’ Mr.
Zappala said.
The district attorney, who
ultimately will decide whether to file charges in the case, said he hopes to
complete his review of the shooting ‘‘fairly quickly.’’
Sheriff Mullen refused to
comment.
Deputy Dwyer was recognized in
November at the annual Law Enforcement Agency Directors award ceremony for
helping to clear 201 warrants and make 134 fugitive arrests.