ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin announced Thursday a city police officer was justified for fatally shooting a gunman during a foot chase last month.
Officer Zane Struss was acting to protect himself and members of the community when he exchanged fire with Xavier Arnold on Feb. 10, Martin said. Arnold, 20, had assaulted another man and refused orders to drop his handgun moments before his death.
- Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said an Allentown police officer was justified in fatally shooting a man last month
- Police say Xavier Arnold had just pistol whipped a man before opening fire on Officer Zane Struss
- Struss remains on administrative leave as part of standard department protocol following an officer involved shooting
The brief gunfight was caught on surveillance cameras and shown to reporters Thursday. While other officers arrived almost immediately, no other officers fired during the exchange, Martin said.
“In my opinion, what you see in the video makes it unquestionably clear that [Struss] acted appropriately,” Martin said.
The investigation by the district attorney’s office found Struss was on patrol at Eighth and Linden streets around 8:09 p.m. when he spotted an altercation between two men and a woman.
One of the men and the woman approached his squad car and reported Arnold had just pistol-whipped him and was still armed, Martin said. Struss drove off in pursuit of Arnold but had to continue on foot due to traffic on Eighth Street. As the two men rounded the corner of Eighth and Maple, Arnold turned and leveled the handgun at Struss, Martin said.
Struss can be heard on video surveillance ordering Arnold to drop the gun as he jumped into an alcove of a building. The two men can be seen firing multiple times within seconds. Martin said investigators couldn’t tell who fired first; the video shows the men fired nearly simultaneously.
A City Center surveillance camera recorded Arnold’s bullets breaking a business’s plate window on Eighth Street and shattering the rear passenger window of a passing vehicle. Another bullet grazed Struss’s abdomen, punching a hole in his uniform shirt and hitting his bulletproof vest, Martin said.
Martin said Arnold was hit multiple times; one shot entered his eye and shattered his brain stem. While responding officers provided CPR and aid, Martin said, Arnold was likely dead before he hit the ground. He was pronounced dead 30 minutes after the assault at Lehigh Valley Hospital - Cedar Crest, according to Lehigh County Coroner Daniel Buglio.
“Arnold’s conduct alone created the circumstances for his own demise,” Martin said.
Officers are still investigating how Arnold, of Coplay, acquired his weapon. Court records show he pleaded guilty to a number of other crimes in 2021, including carrying a firearm without a license. Martin said he was not legally allowed to possess a firearm.
Struss, a three-year veteran of the Allentown Police Department, remains on administrative leave as part of standard department protocol, department officials said. He is a graduate of Northwestern Lehigh High School and attended Bucks County Community College.
