Man with gun shot and killed by officer
Officer placed on administrative leave
A man arguing with his ex-girlfriend was shot and killed by a Catasauqua police officer Friday after he refused to drop a gun in the basement of the home he shared with his parents, authorities said.
Ryan Shirey, 27, was pronounced dead by the Lehigh County coroner’s office at the home at 133 S. 14th St., where he was shot shortly after 2 p.m., Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said outside the scene Friday evening. No officers were injured, but the officer who shot Shirey has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation, state police spokesperson Trooper Nathan Branosky said in a news release.
Shirey and his father and ex-girlfriend were at the house when she called police during an argument that the father told police got “heated,” Martin said. The ex-girlfriend is a caretaker for Shirey’s mother, he said.
Three Catasauqua police officers responded to the home, at which point Shirey “fled to the basement where he retrieved a
revolver,” Branosky said.
Police entered the basement. “[Shirey] was ordered to put the gun down, he did not comply,” Martin said. “And a Catasauqua police officer shot him, and unfortunately he is deceased.”
Authorities did not say if Shirey pointed the gun or fired at police. Authorities also did not identify the officer who shot him.
The State Police Major Case Team, Lehigh County Homicide Task Force and Martin’s office are investigating. An autopsy is scheduled for Saturday, according to the coroner’s office, while Martin said the investigation into the use of force by police would take at least a week.
The home where the shooting occurred is flanked by two large pine trees in a neighborhood
packed with closely nestled single family homes, just off busy Race Street. Occasionally, an airplane cuts through the sky on its way to or from Lehigh Valley International Airport.
Neighbor Sarah Andrews was helping her children with virtual schooling when she heard a slew of sirens rushing into her otherwise quiet area. Andrews thought maybe there had been an accident, and went out to see if the fire police needed any help. That’s when she heard Lehigh County emergency dispatchers relay information about shots fired on an emergency radio.
“We decided we had better get inside then,” Andrews said. “It’s definitely not the norm here in this part of Catty.”