A 43-year-old man pointed a "ghost gun" at police officers during a fatal encounter in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce said Tuesday.
Omar Jermaine Redditt was fatally shot by officers Sunday morning outside a home on Holland Street when they approached him while investigating a domestic disturbance.
Two Wilkes-Barre Police Department officers have been placed on administrative leave while the incident remains under investigation by Pennsylvania State Police, Troop P – Wilkes-Barre Crime Unit, Forensic Services Unit, and the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office.
The officers were wearing body cameras, and the incident was recorded, Sanguedolce said Tuesday.
"We, even those of us involved in the criminal justice field, often forget that the most mundane call for service can turn tragic. A simple traffic stop or, as in this case a domestic incident, to which dozens of Luzerne County officers are called every day, can, in the blink of an eye, take the life of someone loved by a parent, child, and spouse," Sanguedolce said.
"In this case, the Redditt family lost a loved one. It could just as easily have been a police officer. I’m thankful for the risks they take every day, and I know the City of Wilkes-Barre is thankful their officers are able to return to their loved ones," Sanguedolce said.
"We could have been talking about officers whose coffins were draped with a flag," he said.
Reddit was prohibited from possessing firearms due to a previous conviction. The untraceable "ghost gun" he aimed at police is being examined by state police forensic experts, Sanguedolce said.
Based on an initial statement released by Sanguedolce and Pennsylvania State Police, Troop P, Captain Patrick Dougherty, police were dispatched to a Mayer Street residence at 10:45 a.m. Sunday in response to a 911 call about a domestic disturbance between a female and her ex-husband, who no longer lived there.
The man was no longer at the Mayer Street residence when police arrived. Officers then went to his residence on Holland Street.
When police arrived, they found the man, later identified as Redditt, yelling in the street.
Officers approached Redditt to speak with him and he pulled a gun, Sanguedolce said Tuesday. A gunfight followed in which Redditt was shot.
Redditt died of his wounds at an area hospital. An autopsy performed Monday determined his cause of death to be multiple gunshot wounds.
His manner of death is pending the outcome of the investigation.
