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DA: Shooting of man with shotgun at police station justified

LANCASTER (AP) — A Pennsylvania prosecutor says a police officer was justified in shooting a man who confronted officers with a shotgun outside a township police station.

LNP newspaper reports that Lancaster County’s district attorney said 65-year-old John Simson of East Petersburg arrived at the Manheim Township police station May 8 with the weapon, upset after being charged four days earlier with sexually assaulting a minor.

District Attorney Craig Stedman said Simson refused to comply with police commands and shot himself in the face before the officer fired a fatal single shot. He said the man had written a suicide note to his family earlier.

Stedman said there was no question in his mind that “the officer was justified in what he did.”