Fawn man wielding a gun shot by troopers after ignoring orders to drop weapon, police say

State police say a Fawn man was brandishing a gun and ignored repeated orders to put the weapon down before they fatally shot him early Monday.

Zachary John Cervice, 50, was dead at the scene, said state Trooper Josh Black, public information officer for state police in Butler.

According to police, troopers were called to the scene on Shamrock Lane for a domestic disturbance and, as they interviewed family members, Cervice arrived, wielding a gun and pointing it at troopers.

The shooting is being reviewed by state police and the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office.

Black said the three troopers involved have been placed on administrative leave while the incident is being investigated, which is state police policy. State police also will conduct an internal investigation of the incident, he said.

In addition, the incident will be reviewed by the Alle­gheny County District Attorney’s Office to determine whether the troopers were justified when they shot.

The state troopers have not been publicly identified.

Investigators said the incident began at a home in the 3900 block of Ridge Road, where Cervice lived with his mother. It ended when troopers shot him to death at a home in the 300 block of Shamrock Lane, which is a little more than a mile away.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy to determine the official cause and manner of his death.

Police say Cervice’s girlfriend told them that, after he ransacked the house on Ridge Road and threatened to shoot family members who were there, she drove the family members to the house on Shamrock Lane because she feared for their safety.

Troopers said they responded to the house on Shamrock Lane at 5:19 a.m. to speak with family members when Cervice showed up in a Dodge Durango SUV.

“Troopers were inside speaking with family members when Mr. Cervice arrived in a vehicle,” said William Maitland, captain of the state police station in Butler, which is investigating the incident. “He immediately displayed a gun and pointed it at troopers, refusing their commands to drop the gun.”

Police are investigating whether Cervice fired at police before he was shot.

Maitland said domestic incidents such as the one Monday can be dangerous for responding officers.

“You never know, as a police officer, what you are walking into,” he said. “A lot of time, we were provided some information, but I don’t know if they were informed that he had a weapon. But they knew it was a serious situation.”

Police said the incident was isolated and that residents were not in danger.

There are only four homes along Shamrock Lane. The one where the shooting took place is at the end of a dirt road at the top of a hill.

Nobody was at the house Tuesday morning.

One neighbor who asked not to be identified said he saw activity at the house when he was leaving for work.

The man said he heard several gunshots and saw police lights up the hill and people walking through the woods with flashlights. He said he doesn’t know the people who live in the house where Cervice was shot.

Arrested in May

In May, a state trooper responding to an assault complaint at Cervice’s house on Ridge Road arrested him after, police said, they found him sitting in a vehicle at a park-and-ride lot with three loaded guns.

He was charged with felony counts of possession of a firearm and carrying a gun without a license along with counts of harassment and carrying a loaded weapon after a woman told police she was driving home with Cervice from a night out drinking when he became angry and began punching her in the head and face.

On May 17, Cervice waived his right to a preliminary hearing and was ordered to stand trial on the charges, court records show.

Cervice was not allowed to possess a gun because he pleaded guilty in April 2001 to four counts of aggravated assault and a count of criminal trespass, all of which are felonies, court records show.