Coroner: Knife-Wielding Suspect's Death 'Suicide By Cop'
GREENSBURG (KDKA) – The Westmoreland County coroner announced his decision Wednesday in the inquest into the death of Rodney Golden.
Golden, 41, was shot and killed during a standoff with police last January.
The standoff, following a gruesome murder, was justified, according to Westmoreland County Coroner Ken Bacha.
According to police, Golden had just slashed 56-year-old Anita Sabol's throat when they arrived on Jan. 19, 2014. Police pursued him from the Hempfield Towers, where he lived with Sabol.
Eventually, troopers confronted Golden behind the building.
According to the coroner's report, Golden told officers, "Shoot me. What? Are you afraid to do your job? Go ahead and pull the trigger and shoot me."
However, the troopers did not act until Golden lunged at them.
"Once confronted by law enforcement officers, Mr. Golden taunted them to shoot him. The officers were in uniform. They used verbal commands and non-lethal techniques in the form of Tasers with no success. Mr. Golden had many opportunities to drop his weapon and surrender. Instead, Mr. Golden took an aggressive position and went at Trooper Lumstin with a knife, forcing Trooper Lumstin to shoot twice at his attacker," Bacha said.
The report included testimony of officers who say they deployed six Taser strikes to Golden with no effect..
Bacha said it was a clear case of suicide by cop.
"In my opinion, this is very clearly a case of what is known as suicide by cop," said Bacha. "The use of deadly force by Trooper Lumstin was legally justifiable."
The coroner's final report is 25 pages long.
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