By Joe Mandak
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH — Last month’s fatal shooting of a bank robbery suspect by a Pittsburgh police officer working a security detail was justified, even though the suspect was wounded in the lower left back, the district attorney said Friday.
Surveillance video clearly shows the man aiming his loaded pistol at the officer and spinning away to his right as she fired, which accounted for the location of his wound, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. said.
Zappala called a news conference to show the videos of the shooting of Raymone Davis, 21, on Dec. 4 at the First Niagara Bank branch in the city’s Mount Washington neighborhood.
“If we did not have the video, then we’re looking at somebody who’s been shot in the back,” which could have raised questions about whether the shooting was justified, Zappala said. “She did exactly what she was trained to do but, unfortunately, somebody lost their life.”
The videos do not show Davis and Officer Lisa Luncinski in the same frame. Rather, the time-synced images show her stepping from behind a bank display sign to fire her weapon as Davis aims his gun at her and begins to spin away as he sees her fire.
“I’m very, very, very proud of Officer Luncinski,” police Chief Cameron McLay said, calling the officer “kind of a poster child for community policing.”
Zappala said the same bank was robbed on Oct. 15 and Nov. 16, which is why bank officials hired Luncinski for the security detail. In those “takeover scenarios,” a man entered the bank with a gun and ordered employees and customers to lay down, Zappala said.
When Davis entered the bank, he yelled, “Freeze, get on the ground. Give me all your money. This is a robbery,” Zappala said, repeating witness accounts. Luncinski shouted, “Police, drop your weapon,” before firing after Davis took a shooting stance and aimed at her, Zappala said.
Luncinski was working as a uniformed police officer, though the bank security detail was outside her normal duty shift, McLay said. Officers are paid by the city to work such details, with the bank reimbursing the city, McLay said.
Zappala said authorities believe the man who was arrested for being Davis’ “wheel man” that day, Ricky Simmons, 26, of Pittsburgh, had robbed the bank on the two prior occasions.
Simmons remained jailed and faces a preliminary hearing Thursday on charges stemming from the two earlier robberies. Online court records don’t list an attorney who could comment on Simmons’ behalf. Authorities believe Davis may have been involved in the earlier bank robberies, Zappala said.
McLay also attended the news conference to make the case for police body cameras. Luncinski wasn’t wearing such a camera, but McLay said one could have provided valuable information.
So far, 26 motorcycle and bicycle officers are outfitted with the cameras, and another 30 have been trained to use them, McLay said. McLay and Zappala are lobbying state lawmakers to regulate their use and amend the state’s wiretap law, which prevents the cameras from being used in certain situations.
“You see it on social media, when people are accused of stuff, we want to have our own camera, too,” McLay said.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press