Dec 8, 2016 3 min read

AVELLA – A Jefferson Township man who was shot and critically wounded early Wednesday by state police outside his home had indicated he was going to charge at the officers to force them to shoot and kill him, a witness told investigators.

A juvenile stepsister of Steven Garrett Ward, 20, told state police after he was shot she overheard during the commotion Ward complaining he “had a bad life and nobody cares about him,” court records state.

She also said she heard Ward say, “I’m going to rush the cops so they kill me,” state police noted in the affidavit supporting numerous charges Ward faces following disturbances at 357 and 361 Bethel Ridge Road that were reported to Washington County 911 at 12:25 a.m.

Ward, who lived in a camper parked at 357 Bethel Ridge Road, remained in critical condition Thursday in Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, a hospital spokeswoman said.

One of his relatives said two shots were fired at Ward while he held a 10-inch knife in his left hand and walked quickly toward Cpl. Fred A. Scott Jr. and Troopers Paul D. Partee and Christopher L. Storm, the affidavit indicates.

While the case was still under investigation by separate state police units, investigators have not said which officer shot Ward nor where he was wounded about 1 a.m. Wednesday. None of the officers was injured.

The series of incidents began at the residence at 361 Bethel Ridge Road that the stepsister shares with her grandmother. The girl said Ward was drinking alcohol and “not acting right,” prompting her to ask him to leave.

She told an investigator she then called his father, Charles Ward, who lives next door, asking him to get his son out of her residence.

Steven Ward started to fight with his father as his father tried to get him to leave, court records state. Steven Ward is accused of biting his father in the chest and pushing him, causing him to fall against a heater and injure his forehead.

The girl said Steven Ward returned to the house and pushed her grandmother onto a couch. She also told investigators she pushed Ward to get away from him, causing him to fall down a flight of stairs leading to the basement. She and her grandmother, along with a friend, fled to Charles Ward’s residence, fearing Steven Ward would return with a gun that was in the basement, the affidavit indicates.

Another relative identified the weapon inside 361 Bethel Ridge Road as an unloaded shotgun. Steven Ward appeared with the shotgun and said he was going to use it to kill himself, but he couldn’t find any shells, according to an affidavit supporting a warrant signed by District Judge Gary Havelka allowing police to search the property.

The stepsister also told investigators she watched from inside Charles Ward’s residence as Steven Ward paced and held what she thought was a hammer. She said her stepbrother struck her vehicle and his camper with the object before the shots were fired by police.

Police said officers and Charles Ward told Steven Ward to drop his weapon before he was shot, court records show.

District Judge Mark Wilson on Wednesday signed a warrant for the arrest of Steven Ward on six counts of aggravated assault, three counts each of reckless endangerment and harassment and one count of simple assault.