Jury awards $21M to family of man killed by state trooper inside Canton mobile home
Anthony Gallo was fatally shot by Trooper Chad Weaver in October 2017
A federal jury has awarded a $21 million judgment to the family of Anthony Edward Gallo, ruling that a state police trooper who shot and killed him inside a Canton Township mobile home in 2017 used “excessive force” during the incident.
The jury delivered its verdict Wednesday afternoon following a multi-day trial at the federal courthouse in Pittsburgh, deciding that Trooper Chad Weaver “acted wantonly or maliciously in violating” Gallo’s constitutional rights.
Weaver fatally shot Gallo at close range with an AR-15 rifle following a confrontation inside a Mark Avenue mobile home on Oct. 1, 2017.
“Sadly, the Gallo family would rather have their dad, their son, their brother back. But the verdict was very, very appropriate,” said Washington attorney Noah Geary, who filed the lawsuit and represented Gallo’s family during the civil trial. “Anthony was only 34 years old. The homicide was totally unnecessary.”
The lawsuit was filed in September 2019 by Gallo’s father, Louis Gallo, and on behalf of his deceased son’s estate. The eight-person jury awarded $3 million in compensatory damages, $7 million in survivor damages to Gallo’s son, Paul, and another $11 million in punitive damages. In its verdict slip, the jury found that Weaver “unreasonably used excessive force” against Gallo in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights and “acted wantonly or maliciously in violating” his constitutional rights.
State police were called to the mobile home park in Canton Township by Gallo’s mother, Betty Gray, after he began experiencing a mental health crisis at his grandmother’s residence at 17 Mark Ave. According to the lawsuit, Gallo had suffered a head injury from a car accident earlier that year and was “acting strangely but not violently” before Gray called 911 “as a mental health call.”
Weaver and his partner, Trooper Matthew Shaffer, arrived at the scene and Gallo, who was holding a knife at the time, went into a neighboring home at 20 Mark Ave., prompting the troopers to follow him inside with their AR-15 rifles. Moments later, the troopers confronted Gallo in a bedroom at the rear of the mobile home, and Weaver fired his weapon in two separate volleys seven seconds apart, striking the victim 10 times. In their investigation, state police claimed Gallo took a step toward the troopers while holding the knife, although the lawsuit disputed that notion and the jury appeared to agree with the plaintiff’s sentiment.
“It’s still very sad,” Geary said of the verdict. “I’m sure that in their minds, psychologically and unconsciously, that if they got a verdict that it would take away some of the pain. It didn’t and it never does. They’re holding up as well as can be.”
The mobile home at 20 Mark Ave. where Gallo was killed is unoccupied and listed as a “dangerous structure” with faded yellow caution tape wrapped around the front porch. Across the street at 17 Mark Ave. where Gallo’s relatives lived, a man who answered the door Thursday but declined to identify himself said the family was pleased with the verdict and now wants Weaver held criminally responsible for Gallo’s death.
The Washington County coroner’s office ruled during an inquest in February 2018 that the shooting was justified, making it unlikely Weaver would face criminal prosecution. Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh said Thursday he was aware of the federal lawsuit verdict, but he did not intend to reopen the investigation into the killing.
“That was justified by (then district attorney) Gene Vittone,” Walsh said. “It was already decided before I was here.”
Geary called the inquest a “sham” and said Shaffer’s explanation of events from the very beginning contradicted Weaver’s claim that Gallo stepped toward them with the knife.
“The criminal case should be looked at again,” Geary said of the family’s wishes. “Of course, Walsh won’t look at it again, because he needs to pander to law enforcement, instead of doing the right thing.”
Weaver has been off patrol since December 2017 – two months after the shooting – when he was transferred to the state police’s Bureau of Gaming Enforcement in December 2017, according to Lt. Adam Reed, who is a state police spokesman at the department’s headquarters near Harrisburg. Weaver is currently assigned to work at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows in North Strabane Township, Reed said.
“A ruling in a civil case would not impact duty status, so his duty status can be considered ‘full,'” said Reed, who declined to address a question about the state police’s response to the verdict.
The lawsuit also named four other defendants, all of whom were state police supervisors at the Washington County barracks. U.S. District Judge Robert Colville, who presided over the trial, removed the other defendants from the lawsuit Tuesday before closing statements on Wednesday.
Geary thought that decision was an “error” because Weaver’s supervisors were aware of past conduct and complaints about his actions in the field.
“Weaver had a track record of violence documented, and his supervisors did nothing about it, saying they didn’t know about it,” Geary said. “The state police knowingly looked away, and I don’t know why.”