Coroner rules man died from self-inflicted gunshot wound

Mar. 15—A Cambridge Springs-area man who fired on Pennsylvania State Police troopers Wednesday night and then barricaded himself inside his home died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Crawford County Coroner Scott Schell said Monday.

On Thursday, police identified the man as Shawn L. Ruhl, 42, of Pendelton Drive, after Ruhl was found deceased inside the Cambridge Township home earlier that morning. Schell pronounced Ruhl dead at 5:50 a.m. Thursday at the home from a gunshot wound to the head.

But the coroner reserved ruling on the manner of death pending an autopsy and additional testing.

Manner of death is the determination of how an injury or disease leads to a death. The manners of death are: natural, accidental, suicide, homicide, pending investigation, and could not be determined. Pending investigation is there is no definitive evidence at the time to make a determination on the manner of death.

Last week, following an autopsy by Dr. Eric Vey, forensic pathologist at the Erie County Coroner's Office, Schell confirmed Ruhl sustained more than one gunshot wound to the head. However, Schell had declined comment on the number of wounds or what caliber of weapon or weapons caused them until ballistics reports were completed. Those reports — examination of evidence from firearms — now are complete.

The manner of death in the Ruhl case was suicide based on the evidence and ballistics reports, Schell said Monday.

The autopsy found Ruhl had two gunshot wounds to his head area.

The fatal wound was a 9mm bullet wound to the head, and the other was a through-and-through wound to the left side of his neck, according to Schell.

A through-and-through wound is when an object passes through the body, leaving both entry and exit wounds.

"The through wound did not strike anything vital such as the carotid artery or spinal cord," Schell said.

The ballistics reports showed markings on the 9mm bullet recovered from Ruhl matched markings made by bullets fired from a 9mm handgun found with Ruhl, according to the coroner.

Troopers who had fired in the incident had used .45-caliber weapons, Schell said.

State police at Meadville arrived at the home, about 2 miles south of Cambridge Springs, around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. A woman there had contacted police at 9:47 to report she and her husband were in a domestic dispute.

When troopers arrived, the woman told police her husband was the only other person inside the home.

As troopers began to approach the front door, Ruhl fired on them; they returned fire and retreated, according to police reports.

Ruhl subsequently barricaded himself inside the home, police said. Police then activated the Special Emergency Response Team to aid in removing him from the residence. Police later discovered Ruhl deceased inside the home.

The two initial responding troopers weren't injured in the gunfire exchange, police said. However, they remained on administrative leave Monday per state police protocol for such incidents.

The troopers will remain on administrative leaving pending the outcome of a use of force report by the Crawford County District Attorney's Office.

District Attorney Paula DiGiacomo said Monday she is awaiting all reports on the incident including police reports, witness statements and other information before she'll issue a ruling whether the troopers' use of force was justified. DiGiacomo said she expects to issue the report within the next few weeks.

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at .