The Venango County District Attorney announced today that no charges will be filed in the shooting death of a man that happened back in December.
According to our news partners at WPXI, District Attorney Shawn White said that no charges will be filed and that Peter Spencer was shot in justified self-defense.
White detailed the scene in which suspects reported that Spencer got an AK-47 assault rifle out and started shooting it up in the air. The suspect told police that Spencer “went insane” and told the group to get on the ground.
The suspect told authorities that Spencer had his rifle pointed directly at him, and that’s when the suspect shot Spencer with his pistol.
White says that an autopsy and ballistic reports indicated that the initial shots fired hit the suspect in the chest, and not in the back.
This all happened the night of December 12th at a camp on a remote road in Rockland Township, just outside of Emlenton.
Spencer’s family has been holding prayer services and vigils in his honor since his death.
The 29-year-old Spencer was originally from Jamaica, and according to his family was the only black man on the trip. However, White said there was no indication of any racial bias by the suspect, and he said the two had actually been friends for years.
The timeline of the investigation had been subject to criticism. However, White said that the autopsy report took eight weeks and that he did not receive the final report until February 25th.
