Body cam footage shows Ligonier Township man was shot with handgun, stun gun nearly simultaneously

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Ligonier Valley police officers who responded to a domestic call fired a stun gun and a handgun nearly simultaneously when confronted last month by a man wielding a machete, body camera footage obtained by the Tribune-Review shows.

The man, Robbie Thomas Saunders, 59, died later July 2 at Conemaugh Memorial Hospital in Johnstown.

The police department released the body cam footage of the confrontation in Ligonier Township to the Trib as a result of an open records request.

Ligonier Valley police Chief Mike Matrunics, who identified the officers as Ryan Hall and James Friscarella, said Tuesday that “the video speaks for itself.” He had no further comment.

Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole W. Ziccarelli ruled July 21 that the officers’ use of deadly force was justified because “an immediate and imminent threat was posed to responding police officers who were prepared to use their own resources to protect themselves and the lives of those around them.”

Ziccarelli indicated her finding was based on a review of videos from the scene, witness interviews and other evidence.

On Tuesday, Ziccarelli’s spokeswoman, Melanie Jones, said the district attorney’s office was not part of the decision by the township to release the video.

Editor’s note: Video shows Saunders coming out of the house and being shot by police officers.

• • •

As Hall and Friscarella walked up the steps of the home on Gravel Hill Road, Friscarella asked Hall about what weapon to use.

“You want lethal or non?” Friscarella said.

“What’s that?” Hall replied, not hearing the question.

“You want lethal or non?” Friscarella said.

“It don’t matter to me,” Hall said.

“I’ll take non,” Friscarella said.

Seconds later, Saunders opened the front door of his home. He was holding a machete in his right hand.

The officers shot at Saunders seemingly simultaneously, according to the footage.

The stun gun hit Saunders in the belly. The lone gunshot fired hit Saunders in the chest.

Jones said the district attorney was aware of the conversation between the officers regarding the use of lethal and nonlethal force.

“That is part of their training, part of their protocol,” Jones said.

• • •

Ligonier Valley police released both officers’ body cam footage. One video lasted 21 minutes, the other 58, including discussions with fellow officers who arrived after the shooting. There were two other videos released as well, one each from their patrol cars.

In the beginning of the 21-minute video, the officers arrive at the scene in two marked patrol cars and talk with a woman outside the home.

She was distraught about Saunders’ behavior, telling officers that he “woke up crazy. He woke up crazy.”

She said Saunders pulled her hair and broke a window in the house.

Police walk up the steps toward the front door but, before they’re able to reach the door, Saunders starts out the storm door.

“Hey, put the knife down!” one officer said before there’s a gunshot and discharge of the stun gun.

The officers immediately called for an ambulance and rendered emergency aid until medics arrived.

They pleaded for Saunders to “stay with them” and assure the woman in the driveway that “he’ll be OK.”

• • •

Saunders’ son, Jonathan Faidley of Centerville, Crawford County, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

In the aftermath of his father’s death, Faidley suggested that the encounter could have been de-escalated. He said the outcome demonstrated “a failure of the system and a failure of police training.”

Faidley, an Army airborne combat veteran, said his father was “severely disabled, to the point where he had to be on dialysis. And his ammonia levels spiked to the point where it caused a psychotic break.

“He was arrested once before when it happened. They arrested him before and let him out.”

Faidley said he believed that if his father had been institutionalized previously, the incident never would have occurred.

Patrick Varine and Rich Cholodofsky are Tribune-Review staff writers. You can contact Patrick at [email protected] or via Twitter @MurrysvilleStar and Rich at [email protected] or via Twitter @RichCholodofsky.

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