Fatal shooting of man at Rest Haven by Spring Garden Twp. Police justified, says DA

At 12:45 p.m. Thursday, May 2, Zachariah White left WellSpan’s York Hospital, where he was seeking treatment for some kind of medical emergency and walked across South George Street to the Rest Haven-York.

At the hospital, according to York County District Attorney Dave Sunday, White had been acting erratically. Sunday said he didn’t know what had brought White to the hospital, whether it was a physical or mental health crisis. He also didn’t know whether White was being detained at the hospital.

What he does know, from video from the nursing home and police body cam footage, is that White followed two other people into the nursing facility and began acting erratically. He had no legitimate reason to be there, Sunday said.

A Spring Garden Township Police officer was dispatched to the home. There, he encountered White and tried to talk him down, Sunday said the video depicted.

Reported earlier: 32-year-old man dies in officer-involved shooting in Spring Garden Twp.: York County Coroner

Five and a half minutes later, White, 32, described as a “transient,” was dead from two gunshots to the middle of his chest.

At a Friday afternoon press conference, Sunday said the video evidence was “clear and decisive” that the officer who killed White was acting in a manner that is “legally justified.”

“The officer initially employed multiple non-lethal means of engaging with White consistent with his training,” Sunday said, speaking in the York County Commissioners' meeting room in the old courthouse before a golden eagle holding a blue banner that says “Live and Let Live.”

Sunday said, “Under any definition of justification in the law, the shooting death of White by the officer was absolutely necessary to neutralize this threat and protect himself and others from potential serious bodily injury or death.”

State police are continuing to investigate, Sunday said, and an autopsy, complete with toxicology testing, still needs to be completed. But he said after reviewing the video and visiting the scene “to have a better understanding of what occurred,” he concluded that the shooting by the unidentified officer was justified.

The sequence of events began when police were called to the nursing home at 12:51 p.m. The officer, upon arrival, activated his body camera.

He found White in an office off the home’s main hallway, Sunday said. The officer began talking to White “using de-escalation methods learned from his training and certification in crisis intervention,” Sunday said, “attempting to (build) rapport and (relieve) stress and concerns White may have.”

Sunday said, “White accused the officer of not being a ‘real’ police officer” and asked him to contact a dispatcher. The officer assured White he was a real police officer and contacted dispatch in his presence.

White then left the room and went down a hallway with the officer in pursuit, Sunday said. The officer asked White to stay in the office and “not roam through the hallways of Rest Haven,” the district attorney said.

White passed through two doors and ran down the main hallway lined with residents’ rooms. The officer followed White and called for backup, Sunday said.

The officer pulled his Taser and shouted “Taser” to alert bystanders and White. “The initial Taser deployment was unsuccessful, and White continued running throughout the facility,” Sunday said.

The officer hit White a second time with his Taser, and this time it worked, and he was able to try to handcuff White. White refused to roll over onto his stomach to allow the officer to cuff him and continued to resist, Sunday said.

White broke free and grabbed the officer’s Taser with his left hand while taking two swings at his head with his right. After a brief struggle, Sunday said, White ran down a hallway toward resident rooms and common areas.

White ducked into a room, occupied by two residents, both confined to their beds, and a staffer who was attending to them. He tried to escape through a window, which is designed not to open for patients’ safety.

The officer entered the room and began talking to White, commanding him to stop and leave the room, Sunday said. White asked the officer for time to catch his breath. He was standing next to a wheelchair.

White then grabbed one of the wheelchair’s footrests – a heavy metal object about a foot-and-a-half long – raised it above his head and charged at the officer.

The officer then fired two shots, which hit White “center mass,” Sunday said.

Sunday said none of the residents or staff of Rest Haven were physically harmed during the incident, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t in danger.

“There were people in there who were terrified,” Sunday said.

White had been living in what Sunday described as “a facility in York City,” adding that he was “not at liberty” to identify it. He said investigators hadn’t determined how long he had been in York. His mother, he said, lives in Connecticut.

The investigation is continuing, Sunday said. But the video and other evidence he has reviewed, he said, “was clear and convincing (the shooting) would be justified.”

“If something comes up in the course of the investigation, we’ll clearly revisit it,” he said. “But I couldn’t see any reason not to make this statement now.”

Although the shooting is justified in his opinion, Sunday said, “we mourn all loss of life and recognize how such tragic events impact all concerned. My deepest condolences and sympathies go out to you all.”

Columnist/reporter Mike Argento has been a York Daily Record staffer since 1982. Reach him at mike@ydr.com.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: DA: Fatal shooting of man at Rest Haven by police justified: DA