INVESTIGATION OF OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTING INCIDENT IN UPPER PROVIDENCE TOWNSHIP CONCLUDES; OFFICERS CLEARED IN USE OF FORCE
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (March 30, 2022)—Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele announced today that the investigation of the March 16, 2022 incident at the Meadows Apartments in Mont Clare in Upper Providence Township is completed and found that it was a lawful use of force by police officers.
The independent investigation of the shooting was conducted by the Montgomery County Detective Bureau, as is normal procedure for officer-involved shootings in Montgomery County. The Upper Providence Township Police Department, Limerick Township Police Department and the officers involved cooperated with the investigation. As part of the investigation, County Detectives interviewed numerous officers and witnesses; reviewed police bodycam, dashcam and private surveillance video; reviewed the 911 call; and collected extensive on-scene evidence.
The investigation found that Upper Providence Township Police were dispatched at 2:59 a.m. Wednesday, March 16, 2022 after a 911 call came in from a woman who reported that a family member was having a “mental breakdown.” The caller told 911 operators that he “has guns” and was leaving their residence. Upper Providence Officer #1 was the first to arrive and encountered the suspect David Naumenko in front of 1406 Meadowview Lane. Naumenko was driving a white Silverado pickup truck, with his wife, Katharine, in the passenger seat. The officer exited his marked police vehicle with its lights activated and approached on foot, calling to Naumenko, “What’s going on?” Naumenko answered “Hi. How are ya?” As the officer continued to approach the truck saying, “You all right?,” Naumenko reached into his vehicle and began firing at the officer. Running for cover, Officer #1 was grazed by a bullet that tore the back of his police uniform and severed his police radio cord. The elapsed time from “What’s going on?” to shots being fired by Naumenko was nine seconds. From his position of cover, Officer #1 fired six rounds from his Glock .45 caliber service revolver.
After this initial encounter, the investigation found that Naumenko drove his truck down Meadowview Lane and encountered a second Upper Providence Police vehicle. As Upper Providence Officer #2 arrived, his police vehicle was immediately fired upon by Naumenko, who was driving the pick-up truck directly at his vehicle. Several bullets struck the police vehicle. Officer #2 exited his police vehicle and took cover, then radioed “shots fired.” He fired one round from his police-issued Glock .45 caliber weapon. Officer #2 also called to Katharine Naumenko, who ran to him to safely take cover. Naumenko then crashed his truck into two vehicles, exited the truck and ran into to a nearby tree line.
At the same time, the investigation found that additional officers from Upper Providence Township and Limerick Township police departments arrived on scene, as did the Montgomery County Western Region S.W.A.T. members. A Limerick Township Police Officer was able to gain entry into a second-story apartment, and from the apartment’s window, the officer heard the suspect reloading his weapon. As Naumenko stood, Officer #3 took one shot using his police-issued Colt M4 carbine, and struck the suspect in the right arm, causing him to fall to the ground. S.W.A.T. members made sure the suspect was no longer able to fire his weapon and he was taken into custody. Naumenko was transported by ambulance to Paoli Hospital for treatment of a single gunshot wound to his right arm.
The investigation found that Naumenko fired 17 shots during the incident, and police officers #1, #2 and #3, in total, fired eight shots.
“Police were fired upon by the defendant almost immediately upon arrival, and that first responding officer very narrowly escaped physical injury from shots being fired by Naumenko. The defendant continued shooting, until finally, a Limerick Police Officer obtained a heightened position that allowed him to obtain a clear view of the defendant, and he took one shot that ended the lethal threat to the officers’ lives and the lives of everyone in that apartment complex,” said Steele. “Our investigation determined the facts of this case supported the use of deadly force by police officers.”
Naumenko was arrested on March 17 and charged with two counts of Attempted Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer, Assault of Law Enforcement Officer, Aggravated Assault, Risking Catastrophe and other related charges. He is being held on $2 million cash bail in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.
In Pennsylvania, the use of deadly force by a law enforcement officer is governed by Section 508 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code. A law enforcement officer is “justified in using deadly force only when he believes that such force is necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury to himself or such other person…” 18 Pa.C.S.A. §508(a). In addition, the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers is justified to defeat…the escape of a person who possesses a deadly weapon, or otherwise indicates that he will endanger human life or inflict serious bodily injury unless arrested without delay. 18 Pa.C.S.A. §508(a)(1)(i),(ii).
Approved for release:
Kevin R. Steele
