Posted on 02/23/2002 9:00:18 AM PST by RCW2001
Pennsylvania state trooper fatally shoots woman who answers the door armed with shotgun
JOE MANDAK, Associated Press Writer
Saturday, February 23, 2002
©2002 Associated Press
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/02/23/national1229EST0497.DTL
(02-23) 09:29 PST PITTSBURGH (AP) --
A state trooper responding to a report of fighting at a suburban apartment complex Saturday shot and killed a woman who answered her door armed with a shotgun, police said.
Bonnie F. Bugosh, 42, of East Huntingdon Township, about 35 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, was hit with a one bullet from the trooper's gun, said state police spokeswoman Jeanne Martin.
It was not immediately known if the shotgun Bugosh held was loaded.
Martin said a resident at the Laurel Hill Apartments complex called police around midnight to report a fight in a hallway. Initial reports indicated that Bugosh's daughter, who is in her late teens or early 20s, may have been involved in the fight, but it wasn't immediately clear who directed police to Bugosh's apartment or why, Martin said.
Neighbors told the troopers that Bugosh was home and that her car was parked outside, but the officers got no response to repeated knocks and a demand that the door be opened, Martin said. When Bugosh did open the door, she allegedly pointed a shotgun at the troopers, and one them fired, Martin said.
Neither trooper's name was released.
There will be an internal investigation, which is routine whenever a trooper fires his weapon, Martin said.
A message left on the answering machine at Bugosh's apartment on Saturday was not immediately returned.
©2002 Associated Press
An officer shot a lady who was pointing a shotgun at the officers - get your facts straight.
I've knocked on plenty of doors - and yes, I stood to the side. That doesn't mean that I'm any less exposed if someone answers the door with a weapon. By all accounts, no one broke down this lady's door - she answered it herself - and pointed the weapon at the officers.
There yarddog, an independent source, are you happy now that I'm not lying to you?
Speaking of "stupid",are you trying to claim her rental property wasn't "her house",or that she didn't have the same rights as other US citizens who actually own homes?
Call it evolution from experience.
Here's the link.
I promise NEVER to post again before coffee.
But friends and neighbors of Bonnie Bugosh remembered the woman as being fearful of guns, and someone who never opened her door to strangers.
"They didn't open their door," said Melissa Oberly, 21, a neighbor of Bugosh and her daughter, Kendra, at the Laurel Hill Apartments, 1200 Gurley Drive. "You had to go home and call (first)."
Capt. Frank Monaco of the Greensburg barracks said Bugosh, 42, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Westmoreland County Deputy Coroner Sean Hribal said he pronounced the woman dead at 3:15 a.m. Allegheny County Coroner Cyril F. Wecht performed an autopsy on Bugosh, and listed her cause of death as perforation of the right and left lungs, resulting from a gunshot wound to the chest. Manner of death is pending further investigation.
The two troopers who knocked on the woman's door were not identified yesterday. During a press conference yesterday morning, Monaco said their identities were being withheld because they had not yet had time to go home and speak with their families about the incident.
Monaco said police were answering a call for assistance at 1:25 a.m., and had loudly proclaimed their presence in the apartment's hallways, prior to knocking on Bugosh's door.
"It should have been relatively clear who they (troopers) were," he said.
Monaco said there had been a fight there late Friday night involving people from the complex. He said he did not believe Bugosh initiated the call for assistance.
"The door was opened and she was standing with her weapon," he said. "They (troopers) were confronted. The gun was never taken from her. She pointed the shotgun at the officers. Weapons were drawn and one shot was fired."
Lori Bungard and Melissa Oberly live in the same building where Bugosh resided. They recalled hearing a disturbance at around 11 p.m. Friday outside Bugosh's apartment. They said that a visitor to the apartment across the hall from Bugosh was involved in an altercation with visitors to Bugosh's apartment. It was unclear who directed police to Bugosh's apartment or why, said Trooper Jeanne Martin, state police spokeswoman.
According to Bungard and Oberly, patrol cars from the Scottdale police department were in the parking lot shortly after the fight, but neither believed those officers entered the building.
Martin said that two of the housing project's buildings lie in the borough of Scottdale, while the remainder are in East Huntingdon Township. Officers from the borough and the state police barracks often back each other up on calls in that area, she said.
State police arrived on the scene about an hour after the disturbance had subsided, neighbors said.
Both women heard troopers ascend the stairs to Bugosh's apartment, pound on the door and announce themselves. Then they heard a single shot.
The women guessed that Bugosh may have feared the earlier altercation had resumed in her hallway.
"I feel she was just trying to protect herself," Bungard said.
"They (troopers) ran up the stairs," Oberly said. "It was quiet by then. <#201> Why not tell her to drop it, put it down? Even if she did have it (gun), that was her house."
John S. Depta, owner of Doughboy's pizza shop in Scottdale, employed Bugosh on and off for years. He trusted the woman enough to let her manage the business when he and his girlfriend, Crissy Neuner, were away. The couple also permitted Bugosh to baby-sit their young son.
"She was one of the best workers I ever had," Depta said, adding that he learned about the woman's death when he opened up yesterday morning.
He said she and her daughter were more like sisters than mother and daughter.
"She moved out there because that is what she and her daughter could afford," Depta said.
He said Bugosh worked at the shop until 10 p.m. Friday.
"She was friendly to everyone in town and with all the business operators," Depta said. "She did most of her shopping in town."
"Bonnie was more like a mom to everyone here," Neuner said.
The couple expressed surprise that Bugosh was armed.
"She was opposed to guns," Depta said, adding that he did not believe the shotgun was hers.
"When we first heard, we thought, 'That can't be true, Bonnie with a gun,'" Depta said.
The couple was collecting donations yesterday toward Bugosh's funeral expenses.
Monaco said he believed Bugosh owned the weapon she was holding.
"It is our understanding that it was her shotgun she kept for personal protection," he said.
Describing the incident as an "officer involved shooting," Monaco said a full investigation involving District Attorney John Peck, forensics and internal affairs will be conducted.
"We handle it like any other homicide investigation," he said.
When asked, Monaco said yesterday he was unsure if Bugosh was intoxicated when she opened her door.
"That is something we will have to investigate," he said, with toxicology tests.
Monaco said more details will be released as the investigation continues.
Peck said yesterday that standard practice for a homicide investigation includes meeting with state police to review the circumstances of a case.
"We offer direction as to any further (investigation) that needs to be done," he said. "We marshal all the facts."
Additional interviews may be conducted and additional evidence gathered, and a decision will be made whether or not to pursue charges, Peck said.
Not having met with police, Peck declined to elaborate about the shooting.
"I wouldn't want to prejudge the situation," he said.
Thanks for doing my thinking for me this morning. ;-)
(more coffee)
You make two points, the last, about your friend and your assessment of what caused the problem is one I agree with. I'm 48 now, and I see most cops as kids with toys. As I said in an earlier post, I have no respect for anyone, in the current political/judicial environment, that would desire to become a cop. They are either stupid or on a power trip. I want neither pointing a gun at me.
To try to explain where I got this from in one sentence, I will offer the following opinion: I believe that part of the reason Rodney King got the beating he did was that the cops were frustrated that some stupid judge would just let him out again so they performed a little vigilante justice to persuade him to cool it in the future.
The videotape screwed that up, unfortunately - and i'm not being sarcastic.
Regarding your first statement: Things had changed after the initial call (which is usually the case with domestic disputes). According to the "facts" in the article, under the circumstances the cops faced at the door, coupled with the knowledge that domestic dispute calls are by far one of the most dangerous calls a cop can answer - all, I repeat ALL, prudent and experienced cops would have had their guns out of their holsters.
Whether or not they actually used their guns may be based on experience, but even that could be wrong. Sometimes the rookie turns out to be correct.
A lot of people playing what-if games here have not yet posited one scenario so, what the heck, I can speculate with the best of 'em. What if the cops hadn't had their guns drawn? This over emotional woman could have shot one or both of them in a fit of uncontrolled emotion. That did, after all, cause her to act in a way that got the cops called in the first place, did it not?
This may be a little off-topic, but ...
When I lived in Pa, they were called "State Police." Many states now call them "Troopers". Why?
Who besides the trooper has claimed she pointed a shotgun at him? Third party confirmation in these kind of cases would be really neat to have.
I'm not sure of the purpose of your question, but I've lived in PA all my life and I've heard the terms "state police" and "state trooper" used interchangeably for as long as I can remember. Although as I recall, the organization is essentially the "Pennsylvania State Police" and an individual officer is a "State Trooper".
Just a guess, but the PA State Police are based at troops throughout the Commonwealth. I assume the use of trooper is based on that, but also assume the two can be used interchangeably and always have been.
As an aside, extremely sorry to hear about the death of the PSU pole vaulter, Dare. What a tragic story.
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