DA Marsico investigating police shooting that left Harrisburg man dead

(Harrisburg) — Prosecutors are looking into a police shooting that left a 20-year-old Harrisburg man dead.

Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico says when police responded to a 911 call Sunday night, they found 20-year-old Ed Pinckney in a second floor bedroom in their uptown Harrisburg home, threatening his mother while holding a knife to her throat.

Officers reportedly ordered him to drop the knife.

After Pinckney did not comply, Marsico says one officer fired a shot, killing him.

 

The officer hasn’t been identified, but Marsico says he will publicly name the officer at some point.

“When the evidence calls for a cop to be charged, whether it’s a Harrisburg cop or a cop from another department, we have no problem if the evidence leads in that direction, doing our job and holding accountable someone in the criminal justice system,” says Marsico.

Notably, his office charged Hummelstown Police Officer Lisa Mearkle with murder and manslaughter. A jury eventually acquitted her of all charges.

Police Chief Thomas Carter is pleading with the community for peace.

“I will not hide anything from anyone. We will not tell any false information. But this is an investigation and before we can release any information, we must have the facts,” says Carter.

Carter says the officer who fired the shot has worked in Harrisburg for more than a year, but previously worked in law enforcement in other municipalities.

The officer – and three others who were in the bedroom – are all on paid administrative leave.

Kim Thomas, Pinckney’s mother, is disputing the account from police, insisting her son didn’t have a knife.

She says Pinckney, the father of a newborn, was not dangerous.

An autopsy on Pinckney’s body is set for Tuesday.