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Sheriff increases security after handgun stolen and used in apparent suicide

By Patty Yauger pyauger@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read
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Fayette County custodians will no longer have access to the sheriff’s office following the removal of a weapon from the courthouse.

The restriction resulted from an April 15 incident when a .357-caliber weapon was taken from a locked area of the office by a 55-year-old employee and later used in an apparent suicide.

Sheriff Gary D. Brownfield said that state police are conducting an investigation into the suicide, while Uniontown police are investigating the theft of the weapon from his office.

According to Brownfield, all custodians had keys to enter the office to remove trash and clean the area after employees had left for the day.

“(The employee) had called off sick (April 15), but the surveillance cameras show him coming in the employee entrance at about 6:30 p.m.,” said Brownfield. “At the time, it didn’t appear that he was carrying anything.”

Uniontown police Chief Jason Cox said the cameras recorded the man using the employee entrance that requires the worker to use a code and fingerprint to enter the building.

He then used his custodial keys to enter the sheriff’s office and approximately six minutes later he is seen exiting the office “holding something under his arm.”

Brownfield said that the custodial worker had apparently learned of the stairway from his lower level office to the secured area where weapons are kept.

The weapons are those removed from homes where a protection-from-abuse order has been issued by a judge and executed by the sheriff’s office.

“If the judge orders the weapons to be removed, we do,” said Brownfield. “And they stay in our possession until they are returned.”

Brownfield said that the lock on the secure room was manipulated by the custodian which allowed him entrance.

“He probably wasn’t seen by anybody,” said Brownfield, adding that the custodial staff is small. “The other workers were likely in other parts of the building.”

The man immediately exited the building.

Brownfield said that he had learned the man had posted a photograph on social media of what appeared to be the weapon taken from the sheriff’s office.

He was pronounced dead at 10:10 a.m. April 16 at his Uniontown residence, according to a Fayette County Coroner’s Office spokeswoman.

“It is being treated as a suicide,” said the spokeswoman. “However, the final determination of the cause and manner of death are pending the autopsy and toxicology tests.”

Brownfield said that he has requested a new steel door be installed at the entrance to the secure area and that no one be permitted in the office after the last employee has exited.

State police could not be reached for comment.

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