Joseph T. Zagar

Deadly force

Zagar, known by the police to be mentally ill, called 911 to say there was a man with a knife on his porch. When Officers Clyde Brandenburger and William Gorman arrived, Zagar pointed a cordless drill battery pack at the ground then placed it under his chin. When he allegedly pointed it at the officers, Brandenburger, who said Zagar's action was "suicide by police', shot him 4 times and Gorman 8. Zagar's family sued. In April 2007 it took a jury 10 minutes to declare the shooting justified. In 1999 Zagar had done the same thing but the police simply persuaded him to drop the object and took him to the hospital.