Friends, family asking for more transparency after fatal officer-involved shooting ruled justified
Indiana County District Attorney Robert F. Manzi Jr. announced Wednesday that the shooting death of John Dye by state police in July was justified.
Dye’s close friends and family say they want more transparency from Manzi’s office.
According to the DA, the shooting happened after a chase that started near Yankeetown Avenue and Lockard Avenue Extension in Center Township.
A close family friend said it should have never happened.
“No routine traffic stop should result in a death sentence,” said Hilary Krishnan.
According to the district attorney, troopers initially pulled Dye over for a burned-out tail light. He sped off from police, continued to drive through yards, and eventually trapped a trooper between his truck and a cruiser before that trooper shot him.
The DA said Dye’s blood alcohol concentration was more than two times the legal limit.
“John was severely developmentally disabled, and he has made a lot of mistakes,” Krishnan said. “He broke the law in the past, and it sounds as though, this evening, that was the case as well.”
Krishnan said things could have been different that night.
She cited a 2015 Treatment Advocacy Center study that said those with untreated mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed during a police encounter.
She believes that played a role in Dye’s death, too.
She wants there to be reform with police to train better and equip them to handle these situations.
“I can only imagine what it could have looked like if there’s a social worker on the scene,” Krishnan said. “If there’s someone telling John, “Look, it’s going to be okay, let’s talk about this,” instead of having weapons drawn.”
Krishnan and Dye’s mom are calling on the DA to release the trooper’s dash cam video and to be more transparent about this investigation.
“I think through the transparency in sharing the footage, we’ll be able to see what went wrong and how law enforcement and communities can foster more trust and move forward,” Krishnan said.
Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek called the district attorney for comment, but his were not returned Thursday.
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