by Dan Doyle
BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, PA — The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office has cleared a Bensalem police officer in an August shooting, ruling the officer acted lawfully when he fired at a man who pointed a gun during a roadside confrontation.
The incident unfolded on August 2, just before 6 p.m., when 44-year-old John Thomas Mathis of Levittown allegedly aimed a handgun at another driver on Bristol Pike. The victim immediately called 911, bringing officers to the scene.
According to investigators, the responding officer pulled up to protect the threatened motorist and issued commands to Mathis, who was seated on a motorcycle. Witnesses reported that Mathis ignored those orders and ran, gun in hand, toward the officer. Holding the weapon in what police described as a reverse-style grip, Mathis aimed in the officer’s direction.
The officer fired three shots, striking Mathis. A handgun was recovered nearby. Officers quickly provided medical aid before Mathis was transported to the hospital.
District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said the officer’s actions were justified, citing evidence that included body-worn camera footage, witness statements, radio transmissions, and surveillance video from local businesses. “This officer reasonably believed his life and the lives of civilians around him were in immediate danger,” Schorn said.
Mathis survived his injuries but now faces a string of criminal charges. Prosecutors say he not only threatened the motorist in Bensalem but also carried out an armed robbery at a Philadelphia cellphone store about an hour earlier. At the time of his arrest, Mathis was already facing charges from a separate road rage incident in Bristol Township on July 27 and had multiple bench warrants outstanding.
Under Bucks County policy, every police-involved shooting is independently reviewed to determine if deadly force was legally justified. Schorn said this officer’s conduct also met the use-of-force standards set by Bensalem Township Police and countywide best practices.
He is being held at the Bucks County Correctional Facility, with a preliminary hearing set for next month. Deputy District Attorney Megan Hunsicker is prosecuting the case.
Note: Criminal charges, and any reporting thereof, are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.