Local news from StateCollege.com and Centre County Partners. Read about Federal Judge Dismisses Osagie Family Lawsuit Against State College, Police Officers and more from the State College, PA region
About a dozen members of the advocacy group formed in the aftermath of the fatal police shooting of Osaze Osagie lay on the plaza outside the State College Municipal Building Friday afternoon as part of a “die-in” protest that called for the resignation of three borough officials.
It marked the start of what the 3/20 Coalition says will be “10 Days of Action,” leading up to the second anniversary of Osagie’s death.
On March 20, 2019, one of three State College officers who responded to Osagie’s Old Boalsburg Road apartment to serve a mental health warrant shot and killed the 29-year-old after he charged at them with a knife in a basement narrow hallway.
State College Borough Council President Jesse Barlow requested that the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office investigate new allegations made in a civil lawsuit over the fatal police shooting of Osaze Osagie in 2019, but was informed they could not take on the case.
On Feb. 1, Barlow contacted the AG’s office with a request to specifically investigate allegations about now-retired borough police Capt. Chris Fishel. The Osagie family lawsuit alleges that Fishel, who later chaired an internal department review that cleared the officers involved, had been aware of a witness report to the department about alleged heavy drinking and domestic violence by the officer who shot and killed Osagie.
Attorney General's Office Won't Take On New Allegations In Osagie Case onwardstate.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from onwardstate.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The parents of Osaze Osagie alleged in a new court filing on Monday that the former State College police officer who fatally shot their son in 2019 was “mentally unstable and violent,” and was “unfit for duty” when he was assigned to go to Osagie’s apartment the day of the shooting.
An amended complaint filed in
the family’s federal lawsuit against the borough and four officers also claims that a now-retired police captain had received information about former officer M. Jordan Pieniazek’s alleged “excessive drinking and domestic abuse” and did not take steps to ensure Pieniazek was fit for duty in the days leading up to the shooting.