Family of Upper St. Clair man killed by police alleges 'excessive force'

The family of an Upper St. Clair man killed by police Sunday while in the throes of a mental health crisis is accusing the SWAT officers who shot him of using excessive force and questioning their tactics.

“The mental health system failed us,” Shepherd’s half-sister, Micki Kippelen, said Wednesday. “And the police used excessive force.”

Police opened fire after they said Christopher Shepherd approached them outside his home on Lamar Road while brandishing a knife, according to the Allegheny County Police Department, which is investigating the incident.

“I don’t know if they tried non-lethal methods first — Did they use rubber bullets? Did they use a Taser?” Kippelen, 37, of Upper St. Clair, said.

“We are grieving (because of) the excessive force used by police when they could have subdued a man who had no prior military training, no guns, no violent history,” Kippelen said. “They knew the context, they knew him.”

The incident began unfolding around 3 p.m. Sunday when Shepherd’s mother consulted with an Allegheny County mental health worker and decided that her son needed to be involuntarily committed for treatment.

Upper St. Clair police responded to the home in the 100 block of Lamar Road that Shepherd shared with his mother, Susan. The family said that she was not in the house during the incident.

The officers attempted to serve a warrant around 5 p.m. and take Shepherd into custody, but he retreated into the house and locked the doors and windows. Police said that as they tried to get into the house through the plywood, Shepherd “stuck a knife out” and tried to cut them.

At that time, the officers filed an aggravated assault charge against Shepherd, court records show. They also called in the SWAT team.

Nothing happened for several hours. But around 8:39 p.m., police said, Shepherd came out with a knife, walked toward the SWAT officers and refused commands. They shot him.

Police have not provided details about the actual confrontation between Shepherd and police that preceded the shooting. They have not revealed how far Shepherd was from the officers when they fired, what kind of knife he had or why they were unable to use less than lethal force.

Kippelen said her family is hiring a private pathologist to conduct a second autopsy following the one performed by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office.

One thing a second autopsy will try to determine is where Shepherd was shot. The family says video shot by a neighbor indicates that Shepherd might have been fleeing when the gunfire started.

The family provided TribLive with a dark, 25-second video clip but declined to identify the person who recorded it.

In the video, as a dog barks in the background and a man in the distance yells, “Get your hands up,” a nearby voice can be heard saying, “You can see him running. They don’t want to shoot him. They’re chasing him.” Then, a barrage of at least a dozen gunshots.

County police have said four officers from a South Hills SWAT team opened fire at Shepherd. They have not divulged who fired the fatal shot.

County police Superintendent Christopher Kearns said Wednesday that his detectives continue to investigate and will forward their findings to District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., who will determine whether the officers were justified in shooting Shepherd.

‘He was not a threat to anybody but himself’

Shepherd had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder, and was taking medication, Kippelen said. He had been seeing a psychiatrist for about 20 years.

Shepherd’s mother and Kippelen had committed Shepherd for inpatient mental health treatment at Pittsburgh-area hospitals three times since November, Kippelen said.

Schizoaffective disorder is a mental health disorder marked by a combination of schizophrenia symptoms, such as hallucinations, and mood disorder symptoms, such as depression or mania, according to the Mayo Clinic.

The officers who fired at Shepherd — two from Bethel Park and one each from Baldwin and Brentwood — all have been placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation, their departments said. The officers are part of a regional SWAT team operated by the South Hills Council of Governments.

The group has not returned numerous phone calls or emails seeking comment.

Trei Smith, a close friend of Shepherd’s for 40 years, said Shepherd was not violent.

“He was not threat to anybody but himself,” said Smith, 48, of Sewickley, who lived with Shepherd while they attended Duquesne University. “I’ve never even known him to get into a fight.”

Shepherd began feeling drowsy and dizzy in November from his medication, Smith said.

“He became agitated (and) it was a downward spiral,” he said. “We just hoped and waited for him to bottom out. (We thought), ‘Then, he’ll be back to himself.’”

Kippelen said Shepherd recently had been suffering from “paranoid delusions” and “believed (the police) were there to kill him.”

‘It’s been radio silence’

Upper St. Clair police were in contact with the family Sunday but have not provided them with any information since then, Kippelen said. She said that she learned details of her brother’s death from reading news articles online.

“The police are not being forthcoming with us, they’re not calling us,” she said. “It’s been radio silence.”

Upper St. Clair police have forwarded all inquiries to Allegheny County Police. Several township commissioners did not return calls placed Wednesday.

“The one thing Chris hated more than anything was when justice wasn’t being served in the world,” Kippelen said. “I almost didn’t want to pursue anything … but I know he, in his heart of hearts, wouldn’t want this to go unchallenged.”