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Zachiry Derrek Kerschner, 30, of Lehighton, had led police on a high-speed chase before barricading himself in his car at the Liberty Gas Station on Bristol Pike, refusing to surrender, Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn announced on Thursday, March 6, 2025.
High-Speed Chase Ends In Standoff
The incident began around 3:50 p.m. on Jan. 24, 2025, when Bensalem Police stopped Kerschner’s Ford Fusion near Route 1 and Old Lincoln Highway for a vehicle violation.
Instead of complying, he told officers he was armed and would not go back to jail, authorities said.
After 45 minutes of failed negotiations, Kerschner sped off, triggering a 35-minute chase through five jurisdictions. Pennsylvania State Police assisted Bensalem officers in boxing in the vehicle at the gas station on Bristol Pike, where a two-hour standoff unfolded.
Officers pleaded with Kerschner to surrender, even bringing in family members to speak with him by phone, but he refused to exit the car, according to police.
At one point, he pointed a gun at his own passenger, ordering him to stay inside.
Tear Gas Deployed, Gun Raised At Officers
As negotiations failed, Bensalem SWAT deployed two rounds of tear gas to force Kerschner from the car.
Through the haze, he raised a loaded handgun and aimed it directly at officers, authorities said.
Police immediately fired their weapons, striking Kerschner.
Officers pulled him from the vehicle and attempted life-saving measures before he was rushed to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His passenger was taken into custody unharmed.
DA: Kerschner Should Have Been In Prison
Schorn’s investigation found that Kerschner should not have been on the streets.
He was arrested in February 2024 for felony gun possession in Philadelphia and sentenced to 11 ½ to 23 months in jail. However, he served only three months before being illegally paroled in August 2024, the DA’s report said.
Under Pennsylvania law, Kerschner should not have been released until serving at least his minimum sentence of 11 ½ months, meaning he would have still been incarcerated on the day of the standoff.
At the time of the incident, he was on active supervision by Philadelphia’s Adult Probation and Parole, but the DA’s office found that he was not actually being monitored due to manpower shortages. His court-ordered electronic monitoring device had no GPS tracking, and his sentence failed to require substance abuse treatment, despite his history of drug use, Schorn said.
A toxicology report confirmed that Kerschner had methamphetamine and other illegal substances in his system at the time of the shooting.
DA: Officers Had No Choice But To Fire
The DA’s report concluded that all five officers acted within the law and followed Bensalem Township Police use-of-force policies and Bucks County guidelines when they fired their weapons.
"Despite repeated directions to comply with police commands, Kerschner created a situation where officers had no other reasonable choice but to fire in self-defense," Schorn wrote.
With no criminal charges filed, the officers’ names are not being released, per Bucks County District Attorney’s Office protocol.
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