Suspect dead after confronting U.S. Marshals with air gun

This is more likely a case of "Suicide by Cop," no one is going to go up against the police with a BB Pistol; he wanted to die in this writer's opinion.

1-6-2015 Pennsylvania:

PITTSBURGH — The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office has released the name of a fugitive wanted on child sex charges who was fatally shot by members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force Tuesday morning in Pittsburgh.

The dead man is 47-year-old Leslie Sapp III.

Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay says the federal task force was trying to arrest Sapp when he brandished what turned out to be a BB pistol and was shot at his home on Redlyn Street in the city’s Knoxville neighborhood around 4:30 a.m.

McLay says the suspect drew a gun that appeared to be real, prompting one or more officers to shoot in self-defense.

The criminal complaint says Sapp was being sought in the alleged rape of a girl described as a family friend.



Authorities considered Sapp as high risk, and said he's been on the run since July.

Channel 11’s Alan Jennings reported Sapp has a long criminal history dating back to 1986.

According to the criminal complaint, the alleged sexual assault victim told police that Sapp raped and sexually assaulted her several times.

In addition to that case, police said Sapp’s been in and out of jail on robbery, theft and firearms charges.

Isaac Chapman told Channel 11 News he was shocked to learn a wanted fugitive was hiding in his neighborhood.

“It’s basically quiet, from what I’ve seen. There’s no noise and everybody stays to themselves,” Chapman said. ..Source.. by WPXI.com

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Sex fugitive shot by marshal's task force had BB gun, police say

A fugitive charged with child sex offenses brandished what turned out to be an air gun before he was fatally shot Tuesday by members of a U.S. marshal's-led fugitive task force who went to his home to serve an arrest warrant, authorities said.

Pittsburgh police Chief Cameron McLay declined to release details of the shooting, including how many shots were fired, how many law enforcement officers were involved or the agencies for which they worked, citing the need to protect a "very active investigation."

The Allegheny County medical examiner's office identified the dead fugitive as Leslie Sapp III, 47.

Sapp had been charged with rape, corruption of minors and other crimes for allegedly molesting a girl under 14 multiple times since April 2011.

Officials with the U.S. Marshals office in Pittsburgh did not immediately return calls for comment or release a statement on the shooting. The marshal's Western District of Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force also includes city and state police, sheriff's deputies from two Pittsburgh-area counties, and state parole and probation officers.

McLay said at a news conference that city officers weren't involved in the shooting, which occurred at about 7:15 a.m., but are investigating it because of where it happened. Representatives of the Pennsylvania State Police, Allegheny County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshals Service also attended the news conference but didn't speak.

McLay showed reporters a picture of the weapon the fugitive had, a Crosman BB pistol.

"This individual confronted our officers with this weapon, adopted, presented it in a manner consistent with what one would use when trained to use a handgun against officers," McLay said. "The officers fired to defend themselves."

Sapp's home is located in the city's Knoxville neighborhood, on a block that includes a handful of boarded up homes.

A neighbor told The Associated Press she heard someone pounding on Sapp's door for several minutes beginning around 5:30 a.m. and then heard gunfire. The woman asked not to be identified and said she didn't know Sapp. Authorities wouldn't explain the apparent time discrepancy.

The criminal complaint against Sapp states that the accuser first reported the incidents to police in May. The girl told police that Sapp, described as a family friend, rubbed his genitals against her the day before she turned 10, the complaint said.

She said Sapp stopped when her mother returned from a trip to the store, the complaint said. She said he later had sex with her several times, including once after giving her marijuana.

The victim did not immediately report the incidents "because she was afraid of Mr. Sapp and thought that she would get in trouble with her mother," the complaint said.

Online court records don't list an attorney for Sapp in connection with those charges. His attorney in a previous criminal case didn't immediately return a call.

Sapp's criminal record includes a 1986 burglary conviction in Camden, New Jersey, for which he received more than 11 months in jail, and a guilty plea to a weapons charge and other crimes stemming from a 2012 traffic stop in Pittsburgh. He received three years of probation in that case in October 2013. ..Source.. by PennLive.com

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DA: Pittsburgh fugitive shot by task force was hit by 7 bullets inside home

1-8-2015:

A city man wanted on child-rape charges was hit by seven bullets fired by two different guns when members of a U.S. marshal's-led fugitive task force tried to arrest him two days ago, the district attorney announced Thursday.

A shotgun was also fired, but did not strike Leslie Sapp III, 47, according to Allegheny County district attorney's spokesman Mike Manko.

The DA's office and city police are investigating the shooting, which city Chief Cameron McLay said occurred after Sapp confronted the officers with what turned out to be a BB gun after they burst into his home about 7:15 a.m. But investigators have yet to specify how many officers were present, which ones fired the weapons, or the agencies for which they worked.

Allegheny County Medical Examiner Dr. Karl Williams ruled that Sapp died of "multiple gunshot wounds," but he has declined to comment more specifically during the investigation.

The Allegheny County Sheriff's Office and the Pennsylvania State Police each confirmed having one officer at the scene when Sapp was killed by task force members who forced their way into his two-story home.

Kevin Kraus, the chief deputy sheriff in Allegheny County, told The Associated Press that officers had tried to find Sapp at least 30 times at the home since city police charged him in July with repeatedly raping a young girl since 2011.

U.S. Marshal Steven Frank in Pittsburgh wouldn't say how many of his deputies were involved and referred all questions to the city police, who didn't immediately comment Thursday.

At a media briefing Tuesday evening, McLay stopped short of specifically saying Sapp aimed the weapon at them.

"This individual confronted our officers with this weapon, adopted, presented it in a manner consistent with what one would use when trained to use a handgun against officers," McLay said then. "The officers fired to defend themselves."

State police spokeswoman Maria Finn said the trooper involved has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is normal during such investigations. She would not identify the trooper, but said he's assigned to the task force full-time.

Allegheny County Sheriff William Mullen likewise didn't name his deputy involved, but confirmed he fired shots during the encounter and is also on paid leave.

Mullen wouldn't comment on the shooting but said the task force typically uses teams of seven or eight officers to serve arrest warrants.

"It's not quite like a SWAT entry, and they practice a lot because of the number of marshals that have been shot in the past several years," Mullen said.

A friend of Sapp's, Melissa Brown, 41, of Pittsburgh, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review she went to Sapp's home afterward and saw evidence that a side door had been forced open and saw six to eight gunshot holes along a stairwell wall leading to the second floor. The AP could not immediately reach Brown at several phone numbers listed under her name in online directories.

Mullen said deputies involved in shootings are also referred for psychological help to deal with the trauma, especially when a suspect is killed. The trauma of shooting someone is often greater than being shot at, he said.

"We've been shot at and not sent them," Mullen said. "But when they're there, witnessing (someone being shot), there's an impact on their life." ..Source.. by JOE MANDAK