Son of man killed in officer-involved shooting in Ligonier Township questions officers’ actions

LIGONIER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Big questions remain after a deadly police-involved shooting in Westmoreland County on Sunday.

Ligonier Valley Police were initially called to the address for the report of a domestic disturbance at around 3:50 p.m.

The Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office said Robbie Thomas Saunders, 59, was armed with a machete when he aggressively approached officers from the front door of a home on Gravel Hill Road.

Saunders was shot once and died after being transported to Conemaugh Memorial Hospital in Johnstown.

But that man’s son, Jonathan Faidley, said there’s more to the story. He spoke exclusively with Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek Monday afternoon.

“I’m doing as well as you can expect to in a situation like this,” Faidley said. “It’s a situation I never thought I’d find myself in.”

Faidley, who served in the military, said it should have never gotten to the point where his father was shot and killed without more de-escalation.

“It seems like they opened the door, he had a machete, and they said he advanced so they shot,” Faidley said. “I’m sorry, I’m too well trained in stuff like this to know that this is not how it works. If I would have done this in a war zone, if I would have went straight to the escalation of shooting without a verbal warning, visual warning, and then tell them, I would have been brought up on UCMJ charges.”

Faidley said he was put into foster care as a kid.

He said his father should have been institutionalized years ago, saying had that happened, he would have never been shot and killed.

He said it stemmed from a mental health crisis — something his dad dealt with often.

“If he was properly treated in an institution where he should have belonged, he would have never come to the door, wielding a machete, to be shot by police,” Faidley said.

Faidley said he spoke with detectives who say police used a Taser but did not use mace. Havranek asked the DA’s office but they could not elaborate any further as the investigation is ongoing.

Havranek also reached out to the Ligonier Valley Police Chief Monday afternoon. He declined to comment for this story. He told Channel 11 Sunday that he’s been employed at the department since 1993 and there hasn’t been an officer-involved shooting there in his time.

State police and Westmoreland County detectives are investigating and the DA will review the evidence and will determine if the use of deadly force was justified.

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