Pa. DA to review 911 call before woman’s killing
PITTSBURGH – The district attorney wants to review a 911 call and Pittsburgh police’s response to a home where a woman was found shot to death less than a day later.
“There are a number of questions that need to be answered concerning the death of Ka’Sandra Wade and what information was communicated regarding the call placed to 911,” Steven Zappala said in an emailed statement Monday. “I am not going to comment any further until reviewing a transcript of the 911 call in question as well as any history of domestic violence that may have been present between Wade and Anthony Brown.”
Wade, 33, was found dead about 7 p.m. Jan. 1, less than 24 hours after two city officers responded to a 911 call from her home.
Police Chief Nate Harper announced over the weekend that police are conducting an internal investigation because the two officers who responded to the 911 call at her residence were told by Brown, Wade’s boyfriend, that nothing was wrong and left when he denied them entrance. Harper has said he won’t comment until the review is complete.
Brown, 51, fatally shot himself, ending a police standoff at his home across town that began when police went there after finding Wade’s body. Police said Brown acknowledged killing Wade while speaking with police negotiators before killing himself. The couple had a 10-year-old son.
Allegheny County Medical Examiner Karl Williams has said he could not pinpoint the exact time of Wade’s death, so there’s no way to know whether she was still alive when police arrived.
Pittsburgh police Sgt. Mike LaPorte, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Fort Pitt Lodge No. 1, said the 911 call did not specify the nature of the trouble. He defended the officers’ response, saying police get sued if they kick in doors without good reason.
But the head of the city’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the director of the Pittsburgh Citizen Police Review Board, which investigates public complaints of police misconduct, said the incident requires more scrutiny.
“911 is an emergency call,” said Connie Parker, president of the city’s NAACP chapter. “They should follow through to make sure the person is OK.”
Asked about the police union’s take on the issue, Parker said: “Would the NAACP go off if nothing happened and they knocked down the door? Maybe, but I’d rather have someone’s life saved.”
Elizabeth Pittinger, director of the review board, said she’ll present information about the incident at the board’s Jan. 22 meeting.
“They left after (a man) said everything was OK and wouldn’t let them in,” Pittinger said. “How does that happen?”