DA says police justified in the fatal shooting last month of an armed woman in Montgomery County

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said Monday that an investigation has determined that a police officer lawfully used deadly force when he shot and killed a 69-year-old woman who allegedly threatened paramedics and police with a gun last month.

On Oct. 8 shortly after 5 p.m., emergency personnel responded to the 100 block of Evans Avenue in Upper Moreland Township for a 911 call about a suicidal woman possibly armed with a gun, Steele said.

When paramedics arrived, they saw Mary M. Meister standing at the front door of a residence and pointing a gun at them, Steele said. The paramedics continued driving up the street and told arriving police what they saw.

Upper Moreland police officers saw Meister on the front porch holding a silver handgun, later identified as a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver that she purchased in August.

An officer tried for more than 12 minutes to persuade Meister to put down the gun and talk with him, but she refused, Steele said.

A Hatboro police officer arrived with a “less-than-lethal” weapon and fired four rubber rounds at Meister, striking her once in the leg. She checked her leg, then raised her gun and pointed it at the officers, Steele said.

An Upper Moreland officer, who was not identified, then shot Meister. She was taken by ambulance to Jefferson Abington Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 5:48 p.m.

Steele said a handwritten note found inside Meister’s home indicated her intention to die by suicide.

“Officers arrived on scene, and an experienced negotiator talked with Meister, attempting to convince her to put down her firearm. But she repeatedly refused and instead, pointed the firearm directly at officers,” Steele said in a statement.

“Our investigation determined the facts of this case supported the use of deadly force, and therefore, did not warrant any criminal charge against the officer involved,” Steele said.

A day after the fatal confrontation, a neighbor recalled that officers had pleaded with Meister to put her gun down before she was shot.

Meister, who was born in Philadelphia, is survived by a daughter and three siblings, according to her obituary. Her husband died in 2022.

Meister was once on the board of directors of the Twilight Wish Foundation. According to a brief biography on the foundations website, Meister was retired from a public utility job and was a lifelong political activist who advocated for the Family and Medical Leave Act.

She also was a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and served as a local director of the Miss America organization, according to the foundation.

Cass Forkin, founder of the Twilight Wish Foundation, wrote about Meister’s death a few days after it occurred.

“When she lost her husband, a Vietnam Veteran who suffered with Agent Orange issues and died in 2022, she also lost her biggest cheerleader of 37 years. Then a few months later, she lost her son,” Forkin wrote on Facebook.

“She suffered broken-heart syndrome. [Twenty-five percent] of heart issues lead to major depression and she never recovered. Her pain was unbearable,” Forkin wrote. “Mary is reunited with her husband now. She will always be in my heart.”