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The DA explained that the two officers encountered 50-year-old Damon Scott Stern Sr. when they responded to his home for a call of a suicidal man with a knife in the 400 block of Windsor Street, Reading at 3:37 a.m. on Monday, March 25, 2024.
The officers met with the caller on the front porch and the following happened the DA said:
"Stern appeared from inside the home and quickly advanced towards officers and the complainant. Stern was holding a large knife in his right hand. He raised the knife to the level of his head with the tip of knife pointed at them. One of the officers drew his handgun and gave repeated commands to drop the knife. Stern ignored those commands and continued to advance towards them holding the knife in an offensive position. As he came within feet of the officers and the complainant, the officer discharged his handgun striking Stern four times in his center mass stopping the threat."
The officer who fired the shots has been lauded by the DA for not only saving his own life but protecting "the lives of the other officer and the complainant."
Following the shooting, the police radioed for EMS and provided Stern medical care until they arrived, according to the release. Stern was taken to Tower Health–Reading Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
"No police officers were injured during this incident," the DA noted.
Damon, who was known as "DJ Nomad", was an Air Force Veteran who most recently was working at East Penn Manufacturing, according to his obituary. He loved the Dallas Cowboys and enjoyed following world news and politics.
He is survived "by his loving wife of 30 years together and 23 years of marriage, Carmen D. (Poulson) Stern," as well as his six children, three brothers, and extended family, as stated in his obituary.
There has been an outcry of a lack of justice and accountability in the slaying of Stern. His community even held a protest outside the courthouse on April 9.
The DA's ruling was based on state law on the use of “Deadly Force” which is defined as “force which, under the circumstances in which it is used, is readily capable of causing death or serious bodily injury” citing 18 Pa.C.S.A. Section 501.
He concluded, "The District Attorney’s Office will take no further action in this matter."
Click here to read Damon Stern's full obituary.
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