LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — Note: The video above is from December 2020.
Lancaster County District Attorney Heather L. Adams announced Thursday that the Manheim Township police officer who fired at a man during a police standoff on Dec. 8, 2020 was justified in using deadly force.
The shot fired by the officer inflicted a non-fatal wound on the suspect, who then shot and killed himself, according to evidence presented by Pennsylvania State Police, who investigated the incident.
Investigators determined that Craig Kevin Bush fired a shot from inside the home as police attempted to make contact with the occupants during the hours-long standoff.
Later, as police entered the bedroom to arrest him, Bush posed a threat to the officers and the female victim by raising a firearm, Adams' office determined. In response, the officer shot at Bush to neutralize the threat that Bush posed, Adams said.
The shot from the officer grazed Bush’s right side and was a non-fatal wound, according to Adams' office. Bush simultaneously turned his firearm on himself, fired a single shot, and died from this self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Adams said.
Adams' office did not name the officer who discharged his firearm, noting that he is not charged with any crime.
According to investigators, the incident began at 8:08 p.m., when a man called 911 on behalf of his sister, reporting that his sister's boyfriend was "going crazy."
Police responded to the home on Knollwood Drive and knocked on the door, investigators say. They reportedly heard screaming from inside the house, and then saw a woman in the second story window who warned police that "he has a gun" before disappearing from view.
Immediately thereafter, investigators say, police heard a gunshot and saw a muzzle flash from inside the home. The shot exited through a window and traveled in the direction of Manheim Township Police officers who were positioned outside the home.
Police later learned this shot occurred after Bush threatened to kill himself, at which time he indicated that he was not going to jail and pointed the gun at the victim, according to investigators. A struggle ensued, and the victim pushed the gun away from her, which resulted in the shot being fired, according to investigators.
Police made several attempts to determine whether anyone inside the home was injured, but their verbal calls when unanswered, investigators say.
Officers on the scene retreated, and the Lancaster County Special Emergency Response Team was called for assistance, according to investigators.
SERT team members attempted to peacefully resolve the situation, and a crisis team tried numerous times to contact the occupants of the residence via phone and social media, in an effort to safely remove the occupants from the house, according to investigators.
During the standoff, the woman again appeared at the window, where the officers heard her yell that Bush “killed” or “will kill” himself, according to investigators.
Police asked her to exit the home, but she reportedly told them she could not, according to investigators.
After numerous and continued unsuccessful attempts to make contact with the occupants of the home, the SERT team entered the residence to make sure the woman inside was not injured, investigators said. A team of officers approached a second-floor bedroom and forced entry.
The first officer who entered the room observed Bush on his knees, behind a bed, with his back toward him and looking out the window with his right hand obscured, according to investigators. The officer began issuing commands for Bush to show his hands, and Bush turned around toward the officer and raised a semi-automatic pistol, investigators say.
A second officer also entered the bedroom after the first officer and observed Bush on his knees in front of the window and looking toward him, investigators say. The second officer observed the gun in Bush’s hand and witnessed him begin to raise the firearm.
At that time, the second officer fired one round at Bush’s center mass, causing a non-fatal wound as Bush completely raised the firearm to his head and discharged the firearm, causing a fatal self-inflicted wound, investigators determined.
County SERT team medics were summoned but no life saving measures were taken as Bush was determined to be deceased, according to investigators.
“I have concluded that the officer was completely justified in discharging his weapon, which resulted in a non-fatal and superficial wound to the suspect,” Adams said in a press release announcing her determination. “The suspect clearly placed SERT members and the victim in the residence in danger of death or serious bodily injury and created a situation where the officer was justified to use lethal force in self-defense and defense of others.”
The Lancaster County Coroner's Office later determined Bush's cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head, and the manner of death to be suicide.
The firing officer’s bullet caused a grazing wound to Bush to his right upper torso, the coroner said.
The woman was subsequently located hiding in the closet of the bedroom and was safely escorted out of the room by police after the shooting, according to investigators.
The shooting came near the end of a five and a half-hour standoff with Bush, who refused to show himself or communicate with police or allow the female to leave the residence, Adams said.
Pennsylvania State Police investigated the shooting incident and Assistant District Attorney Mark Fetterman assisted in the review of the case.