DA: Norristown cop justified in shooting suspect
The officer, who was not identified, shot 29-year-old Damar Coleman in the shoulder on Feb. 27 in the rear of a property in the 200 block of East Chestnut Street
A Norristown police officer was justified in using deadly force when he shot an armed suspect during a confrontation last month, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said Wednesday.
The officer, who was not identified, shot and wounded 29-year-old Damar Coleman in the shoulder on Feb. 27 in the rear of a property in the 200 block of East Chestnut Street. The officer was responding to a report of a fight and was informed by a dispatcher that one of the men involved was armed with a gun.
Coleman allegedly held a silver semiautomatic handgun at chest level, turned to face the officer who was five feet away, and refused the officer's commands to "get on the ground," Steele said.
Coleman, of the 600 block of Swede Street in Norristown, was treated at an area hospital and charged with assorted offenses for his alleged actions that led up to the shooting. He was being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in lieu of $250,000 bail.