DA: State police trooper justified in fatally shooting man
By WGAL Staff
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LEBANON COUNTY, Pennsylvania (WGAL) — The Lebanon County district attorney has ruled that a Pennsylvania State Police trooper was justified in fatally shooting a man last year.
District Attorney Pier Hess Graf on Monday released a nearly 50-page report on the investigation.
The shooting has drawn scrutiny due to the fact that this was the fourth time Trooper Jay Splain has fatally shot someone.
Splain and Trooper Justin Achenbach were called to a home in Union Township on Nov. 7, 2021, by Andrew Dzwonchyk’s longtime partner and mother of their two children. She said he violated a PFA and was refusing to return the children. She also said she was afraid of him.
According to the district attorney’s report, Dzwonchyk arrived at the house while troopers were there and refused repeated commands to exit his vehicle.
Graf said that when Achenbach reached into the vehicle to get the keys, Dzwonchyk repeatedly drove forward and in reverse with the trooper hanging out of the driver’s side window.
The troopers said Dzwonchyk reached for something, which they feared could be a weapon.
The report states that Splain opened fire, causing a wound to Dzwonchyk’s arm.
Attempts to tase Dzwonchyk were unsuccessful and he continued to drag Achenbach, according to the report. Splain then shot at Dzwonchyk until the vehicle came to a stop, the district attorney said. Dzwonchyk was pronounced dead at the scene.
Graf wrote, “Trooper Splain reasonably believed that deadly force was necessary to prevent the decedent from killing or causing serious bodily injury to Trooper Achenbach.”
A toxicology report showed Dzwonchyk had methamphetamine and amphetamine in his system.
Graf wrote that while Splain has used deadly force four times, those instances are among more than 8,000 calls he has responded to.
Graf also addressed accusations of bias due to the fact that her husband works for the state police. She said there was no conflict of interest in this case.
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