FREDONIA, N.Y. (WKBW) — A Fredonia police officer will not be charged in the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old Erie County man, the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office said Friday afternoon. This comes four months after the officer-involved shooting after Patrolman Nathanial Scriven shot Gueorgui “George” Penev four times, killing him in the driveway of a home on Liberty Street in the Village of Fredonia.
Officers responded to the residence for a well-being check on Penev around 1:45 in the afternoon. It was then officers, seen in body camera footage, asked Penev to come out of the bathroom he barricaded himself inside.
Once he came out, Penev was covered in blood from self-inflicted stab wounds and followed officers out of the home holding a knife. It can be heard on the footage of officers asking Penev to drop the knife multiple times. He did not and was shot four times, ultimately killing him.
An autopsy showed Penev had cocaine and LSD in his system. The DA’s Office said there is no probable cause for any charges. After administrative leave, Officer Scriven is back on duty.
7 Eyewitness News has chosen to blur Penev in the body camera video due to the nature of his wounds before the incident began.
