June 20, 2025
— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan said today that the South Whitehall Township police officers involved in the fatal shooting death of Gary Joseph Moyer, 73, on May 28, acted appropriately.
Holihan did not identify the police officers. His report said Moyer called 911 and said there was a man with a rifle. Police responded and tried to use less-than-lethal force but Moyer pointed the rifle at them and was shot multiple times.
The rifle was inoperable, Holihan said, but there was no way for the officers to know that. Holihan said he considers Moyer’s death to be a suicide. Moyer initiated the incident and did not follow police commands to put down the rifle, nor did non-lethal methods stop him.
Holihan does not use the term, but such an incident is sometimes referred to as “suicide by cop.”
Holihan said Moyer left a note in his home: “Please forgive me. Please convey my apologies to the officer who gets stuck shooting me.”
Here is the District Attorney’s report:
June 20, 2025
District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan is releasing the following regarding an investigation:
This release will represent the formal findings of the investigation into the death of Gary Joseph Moyer on 28 May 2025 in South Whitehall Township. The members of South Whitehall Township Police Department (SWTPD) involved in this incident will not be identified because it has been determined that all actions were justified and all force used was appropriate. They will be designated by number One through Six, although only three individuals used deadly force, one used non-deadly force and two others discussed in this release did not use force.
This incident was investigated by the District Attorney’s Office Homicide Task Force, the Pennsylvania State Police Forensic Services Unit, the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office, the Lehigh County Firearm and Tool Mark Laboratory, with assistance from the Allentown Police Department.
In addition to being present at the scene of the incident shortly after the use of force occurred, I have reviewed the following materials:
1) The 911 call that initiated the incident.
2) The LCR transmissions surrounding the incident.
3) The CAD information surrounding the incident.
4) All relevant videos recorded by body worn cameras.
5) All relevant videos recorded by in car cameras.
6) The provisional autopsy report authored by Dr. Edward Mazuchowski.
7) The relevant biographical information of Gary Joseph Moyer.
8) The report from the Lehigh County Firearm and Tool Mark Laboratory.
9) The photographs and other evidence collected by PSP’s Forensic Services Unit.
10) The recorded interviews of all six SWTPD Officers.
11) The note authored by Gary Joseph Moyer which was discovered inside 117 North 38th Street.
12) The reports compiled by members of the Lehigh County Homicide Task Force.
13) Statutes and case law relevant to Justification (i.e. the use of force); 18 Pa.C.S.A. 501 et. seq.
The initial discussion regarding justification must start with an understanding of the applicable law. A fundamental premise of which is that the use of force, including deadly force, is justified in Pennsylvania under certain limited circumstances. Those circumstances are articulated in Chapter 5 of Title 18 of the Consolidated Statutes of Pennsylvania. The rules of justification apply to law enforcement as well as to laymen. As it pertains to the events of May 28, 2025, the applicable sections of law can be found in 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§501, 502, 505, 506, and 508.
Deadly force means force which, under the circumstances in which it is used, is readily capable of
causing death or serious bodily injury. All of the SWTPD personnel involved in this incident meet the definition of a peace officer.
When force, including deadly force, is justified, the actor using such force is not criminally responsible for the result of the use of said force. The use of non-deadly force upon or toward another person (the target) is justified when the actor using such force believes that the force is immediately necessary for the purpose of protecting himself or third parties against the use of unlawful force by the target. The use of deadly force is justified when the actor using such deadly force believes that it is necessary to protect himself or third parties against death or serious bodily injury at the hands of the target. In the current case, there was no requirement that any of the SWTPD personnel retreat from the situation that resulted in the use of deadly force. A police officer is justified in using deadly force when he or she believes that the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury to himself or any other person.
With these legal principles in mind and a full review of the facts and circumstances, I have concluded that the use of force by the SWTPD was justified. No criminal charges will be filed against any SWTPD personnel for any conduct arising out of the use of force in this incident.
A brief outline of the facts and circumstances will further explain the basis for this finding. This
explanation is not intended to be a full recitation of the investigation, but rather a summary of the relevant facts supporting the conclusion that the use of force, and specifically the use of deadly force, was justified.
This incident was initiated by the decedent, Gary Moyer, when he made an anonymous call to the 911 center indicating that a man in the 100 block of North 38th Street in South Whitehall was shooting people with a rifle. When asked by the 911 dispatcher for details, Moyer described the “shooter” as “just one person” a man in his 60s or 70s shooting at people with a rifle. In retrospect, it is clear that this call was fictious (sic) and designed to draw an immediate police response; which it did. Numerous SWTPD units were dispatched to the 100 block of North 38th Street.
Later it would be determined that Moyer made the 911 call from his own home and described himself; a 73-year-old man who would appear in the 100 block of North 38th Street, alone, with a rifle. Moyer was encountered by several SWTPD members at 117 North 38th Street where he exited the home and advanced south across the lawn toward several parked police vehicles and several officers. Moyer was carrying a single shot .32 caliber rifle.
It would later be determined by Lehigh County Detective Mark Garrett of the Lehigh County Firearm and Tool Mark Laboratory that this rifle was non-operable and incapable of discharging the type of ammunition for which it was manufactured due to a broken hammer. At the time of the incident, it would have been impossible for the SWTPD officers to know that the rifle held by Moyer was incapable of discharging ammunition.
While Moyer was walking south toward the officers who were positioned near their vehicles on North 38th Street, Officer One was giving Moyer verbal commands to drop the rifle. These commands were repeatedly communicated verbally and over the patrol vehicle’s PA system. Additional commands of a similar nature were articulated to Moyer repeatedly by other officers on the scene. At this point, additional officers were south of 117 North 38th Street on the East side of the street: Officers Two, Three, and Four.
At the same time, Officers Five and Six were North of 117 North 38th on the West side of the street.
As Moyer continued to ignore commands to drop the rifle he was holding, Officers Two, Three, and Four were each armed with a BCM rifle loaded with .223 Remington cartridges. Officer One retrieved a Remington 12-gauge pump action shotgun model 870 Police Magnum, loaded with less lethal Super Sock bean bag rounds. Officer Five was armed with a BCM rifle loaded with .223 Remington cartridges while Officer Six carried a service pistol.
Although Moyer did not appear to say anything during the encounter and did not respond to the unambiguous directions given to him, there is no discernable reason why he should not have heard the commands to drop the rifle he was holding. He had communicated appropriately with the 911 dispatcher minutes earlier and neighbors interviewed after the fact indicated that they had clearly heard the commands communicated by voice and over the PA system.
As Moyer moved closer to the officers positioned South of 117 North 38th Street, Officer One positioned himself with the less lethal shotgun and announced the intention to fire bean bag rounds at Moyer. Officer Two provided cover for Officer One. Officers Three, Four, Five, and Six took positions where they could see Moyer and the rifle he held, they were prepared to respond with appropriate force.
Officer One fired two rounds of the less lethal Super Sock bean bag rounds with a brief pause between the two rounds. Video evidence shows that each less lethal round struck Moyer in the thigh area with little deterrent effect on him.
Prior to Officer One deploying the less lethal force, Moyer had been carrying the rifle in his hands with his right hand on the trigger and the barrel pointed to his left and away from the officers. Moyer then brought the barrel around closer to his center and pointed it toward the officers’ position; he also started to raise the rifle while his right hand remained on the trigger. As Officer One deployed the less lethal rounds, Moyer showed little effect and continued to manipulate the rifle into a firing position aimed at Officers One, Two and Three. The second less lethal round struck Moyer almost simultaneously with the rifle rounds from Officers Two, Four, and Five. At the time the second less lethal round was fired, Moyer was standing and pointing his rifle directly at Officers One, Two and Three.
Moyer was struck by the second less lethal bean bag round and nearly simultaneously he was struck by .223 rifle rounds fired by Officer Two (standing behind Officer One), Officer Four (standing on the driver side of a police unit which was parked on the Eastside of North 38th Street), and Officer Five (standing behind a tree in the front yard of 116 North 38th Street). Moyer suffered a total of seven gunshot wounds.
A provisional autopsy report indicates that the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds.
Subsequent investigation found Moyer’s home unoccupied at the time of his death. However, a note was found on the kitchen table inside the home. The note reads in part: “Please forgive me. Please convey my apologies to the officer who gets stuck shooting me.”
A review of all the relevant evidence leads me to conclude that deadly force was used by Officers Two, Four, and Five. Further, I conclude that non-deadly force was used by Officer One. Finally, I have determined that the use of force by all members of SWTPD during this incident was justified and no charges will be filed against anyone who used force; deadly or otherwise.
There is no question in my mind that all officers on the scene believed it was immediately necessary to use deadly force against Moyer to protect themselves and/or others against the imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury. It is also clear to me that all SWTPD personnel acted with great restraint and patience as this situation unfolded. They could not have known that the rifle Moyer held was inoperable, yet they tried to deescalate the situation and utilized less lethal force before deadly force became their only option. The officers are to be commended for their restraint and professionalism during and after the use of force.
It is clear to me that Mr. Moyer’s demise was unfortunately death by suicide and I think it is important to acknowledge this fact. The Coroner will record the manner of death as “homicide” given the restrictive definitions that he must select from, specifically “the killing of one person by another.” I have no argument with his classification. I appreciate his cooperation on this investigation and respect his compassionate work with the Moyer family.
However, this office is not restricted by such a narrow description and when I take all the facts and circumstances into consideration, I am satisfied that Moyer’s death meets the conventional definition of suicide as an instance of intentionally caused self-destruction. Additional support for this position comes from The American Psychiatric Association. A suicide attempt is defined in the DSM V as follows: a self initiated sequence of behaviors by an individual who, at the time of initiation, expected that the set of actions would lead to his own death. The National Institute of Mental Health defines suicide as death caused by self-directed injurious behavior with the intent to die as a result of the behavior. Finally, Merriam Webster’s dictionary includes similar definitions, explaining that suicide is the act or instance of ending one’s own life voluntarily and intentionally; or performing a deliberate act resulting in the voluntary death of the person who does it.
Even with the understanding that the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds, I am satisfied that Moyer self-initiated a sequence of behaviors expecting that the set of actions he initiated would lead to his own death. I am further satisfied that he fully intended to die as a result of his self-directed behaviors.
While I do not believe I need to go into the supporting facts in detail, I will simply summarize that he called 911 and falsely reported himself as shooting people in the street with a rifle and then waited for officers to arrive. He then presented with the rifle and approached the officers, ignoring orders to drop the rifle while continuing to advance toward them and ultimately pointing the rifle directly at three officers.
Finally, additional circumstances make his intentions clear; waiting until he was alone in the home and eaving among his final words the following: “Please convey my apologies to the officer who gets stuck shooting me.”
Based on the foregoing, I am closing the criminal investigation into the death of Gary Moyer with no criminal charges. I find the use of force by all involved SWTPD personnel justified. I also believe it is inaccurate and unfair to attribute this death to the Officers involved.
Lehigh Valley News Briefs 