Police officer cleared in fatal shooting of sword-wielding man, Montgomery County DA says

Trey Bartholomew, 27, was killed in February after charging at an officer with a 23-inch sword, police say.

The fatal shooting took place in Pennsburg on Feb. 9, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney's office.Read moreSTEVEN M. FALK / Staff Photographer

Updated March 1, 2021, 12:29 p.m. ET

Published March 1, 2021, 12:25 p.m. ET

Prosecutors in Montgomery County have determined that the fatal shooting of a sword-wielding man by a police officer in Pennsburg last month was justified, officials said Monday.

An officer from the Upper Perk Police Department — whom prosecutors did not identify — was dispatched to a home in the borough on Feb. 9 for reports of a man threatening to kill people while armed with a samurai sword, according to police.

The officer encountered Trey Bartholomew, 27, walking along Lon Alley holding the weapon, which had a 23-inch blade, investigators said. Bartholomew refused commands to drop the sword and charged at the officer, who had his gun raised.

The officer shot Bartholomew three times, and he was later pronounced dead at the scene, police said. An autopsy revealed that the officer shot him in the left side of his chest and his left arm.

District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a statement Monday that the shooting was justified because the officer had properly used deadly force to stop a threat to himself and others.

Bartholomew’s shooting is the first fatal shooting by a police officer in Montgomery County this year, and the first since April 10, when Jonathan L. Adams, 31, was fatally shot by a Pottstown officer. Adams was shot in the West King Street home he shared with his girlfriend after shooting at two officers who were there to investigate several 911 calls reporting that someone was being assaulted.

The officers in Adams’ slaying were cleared of wrongdoing.