Osagie Family Expresses ‘Disappointment And Confusion’ After No Charges Filed Against Officers

The parents of Osaze Osagie, the 29-year-old State College resident who died after being shot by police serving a mental health warrant on March 20, issued a statement in response to Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna’s announcement that no charges would filed against the involved officers.

The statement detailed their conversation with Cantorna on Tuesday, a day before the report’s findings were to the public. Sylvester and Iyunolu Osagie expressed “disappointment and confusion” when they met with Cantorna and other law enforcement officials and learned of the investigation’s findings.

Sylvester, Osagie’s father, said he had been driving around looking for his son and wasn’t notified that police were going to enter his apartment.

“I thought the police and I were working together to protect my son,” he said to Cantorna, according to the statement. “There is no question that people in this community have been traumatized by the police shooting of our son — people of all races, people whose children have mental health issues, people who can no longer trust the police to protect their children.”

Iyunolu, Osaze Osagie’s mother, asked Cantorna, “Isn’t there something wrong when you send the police to protect your son to take him to the hospital and they send him to the graveyard?”

“The District Attorney’s decision opens a new wound for the Osagie family, who will forever regret reaching out to the police to seek emergency help for their son,” said Kathleen Yurchak and Andrew Shubin, the family’s attorneys.