Greensburg, PA: Coroner: Police Shooting Of Seton Hill Student Justified

Joseph Briggs Killed After Police Standoff

POSTED: 12:04 pm EDT April 15, 2010
UPDATED: 1:23 pm EDT April 15, 2010
GREENSBURG, Pa. -- A coroner's inquest has found that the shooting of a Seton Hill University student by state police following a shooting rampage was justified.
Joseph Briggs was shot by police in February 2009, after police said a night of drinking led to Briggs opening fire on his roommates.
Channel 4 Action News' Jennifer Miele reported the results of the inquest were released on Thursday.
Testimony was presented in the inquest that revealed Briggs, 22, and a sniper were barrel to barrel with each other. Briggs pulled the trigger, and missed the sniper, who returned fire and fatally wounded Briggs in the neck.
Both the coroner and the district attorney looked directly at the Briggs family when delivering their decision: that the shooting along Concord Avenue, just a few blocks from Seton Hill's campus was justified, Miele reported.
"We knew it would come out this way. I think it was a night of chaos on everyone's part," Gloria Briggs said.

Police said Briggs, a criminology student, was drunk and upset over his relationship with a girlfriend. They said he fired more than 40 rounds inside his off-campus apartment, some aimed at his roommates. Some of the rounds hit neighboring houses, forcing neighbors to take cover in basements. During a three-hour standoff, police said he also fired at state troopers.
"Based on the dozens of shots that were fired by Joseph Briggs, some at random and some that were directed at law enforcement officers, multiple vehicles and homes that were hit with gun fire, I find it nothing short of a miracle that there were not more people hurt or killed," said Westmoreland County Coroner Ken Bacha.
"It was a horrible night. I can't get those last three hours out of my head," Gloria Briggs said.
State police said they had no choice but to shoot and that tear gas was not an option.
The Briggs family told Miele they are going to try to move on. They have not said if they plan to file a civil suit against state police.