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Fayette County man dead after being shot by police, district attorney said

Police shoot, kill man in Fayette County
Police shoot, kill man in Fayette County 02:25

REDSTONE TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- A  Fayette County man is dead after being shot by police late on Tuesday night, the district attorney's office said.

Police were first called to Lyndale Road in Redstone Township after 9 p.m. to check on a man who was reportedly threatening to take his own life, investigators said.

"There was an individual making suicidal comments on social media," Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele said. "Somebody from West Virginia ended up calling it into Fayette County 911." 

When a Redstone Township officer arrived, Aubele says the man, now identified as 27-year-old Christopher Hackney, allegedly made threats toward that officer. Moments later, the officer shot and killed Hackney. 

"The officer was by himself when the incident occurred. Multiple officers responded upon a second call for shots fired," Aubele said. 

State police said medics arrived on scene but Hackney died from his injuries. 

Aubele said Hackney had a lengthy medical mental health history but says he's still working to piece the information together before determining if the shooting was justified. 

"We're going to look at every piece of evidence, we're going to conduct interviews before we make any kind of determination here. But you know, our officers are asked to do a very dangerous job where they have to respond and make split second decisions based on the information that they have in front of them," Aubele said.

Victim remembered as "bright" and "very smart" 

Hannah Merryman, Hackney's neighbor and friend growing up, said she heard the shots Tuesday night. 

"I heard a lot of popping, like someone was just wrinkling a bubble wrap really fast and just popping. And then we saw cops come up the hill," she said. 

"As soon as I just seen all that, my stomach just … my heart hit my stomach, honestly, because I didn't know what had happened. I know he wasn't doing well," she said.

Merryman said Hackney struggled with mental health issues and had been seeing a therapist but never imagined something like this would happen.

"He was a bright kid, very smart, very, very, very smart. But, yeah, it's very, very heartbreaking. And he overall, I think, was misunderstood," she said. 

She said she's trying to wrap her head around what happened as she grieves the loss of her friend. 

"It's very sad. His mom is the sweetest lady, and his dad's really nice too," she said.    

The district attorney said the Redstone Township officer is "no rookie" but it's unclear how long he's been an officer with the department. 

"Obviously just a terrible situation all around where a family's lost a son and an officer had to make a decision here," Aubele said. "So again, we will do our job. We will be as thorough as possible, and we will release as much information to the public as soon as we can."  

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