JOHNSTOWN — State police have found connections among the occupants of two cars involved in events that culminated when Johnstown police shot and killed one of the drivers early Monday, authorities said Tuesday.

Still unknown is what prompted 27-year-old Elip Cheatham – the fatally wounded driver – to accelerate his car toward the other vehicle, police officers and a woman in custody, First Assistant District Attorney Heath Long said.

The woman was outside the second car surrounded by at least three police vehicles in the city’s West End.

Tests show Cheatham was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of his death, Chief Deputy Coroner Jeff Lees said.

And it has been determined that Cardell “CJ” Clinton, one of the passengers in Cheatham’s vehicle, had been wounded in a shooting outside a North Sheridan Street bar and not by the city police officers, Long said.

Meanwhile, the state police probe into the shooting and surrounding events continues, Trooper John Matchik said.

Still to be determined is whether the use of deadly force by the three city policemen was justified when they shot at the approaching vehicle while Cheatham allegedly ignored shouts to stop.

The death has been ruled a homicide.

Cheatham died of multiple gunshot wounds, including a fatal one to the chest, Lees said.

On Tuesday evening, friends and family of Cheatham were to gather by the Sav-A-Lot parking lot where he was shot and killed. The memorial service was to include a balloon release.

The three city officers involved in the shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

Their weapons were turned over to state police as part of the ongoing investigation

Initial shooting

On Monday night, state police arrested Shy-Tyguon Lawton, 27, of the 300 block of Oak Street. He is accused of shooting Clinton in the left hip following a confrontation between the two at 12:30 a.m. Monday outside Edder’s Den bar.

A Johnstown police sergeant on routine patrol witnessed a large crowd there, heard shots fired and saw a small white car fleeing the scene, state police said. Lawton had entered the car, which was driven by a woman whom he knew, it was reported. The identity of the woman has not been released.

A slow-moving police pursuit ensued. Lawton ran from the car and was pursued by police on foot. He was apprehended near Greater Johns­town Middle School. The woman continued driving a short distance in her vehicle before stopping in the middle of North Sheridan Street near the Save-a-Lot shopping plaza.

Lawton told police said that when he saw the police vehicle, he had opened the door and tossed his handgun. The handgun was recovered later in the area where he had indicated, police said.

Lawton also said he had decided to jump out of the car while it was still moving in an attempt to get away from police, according to a police affidavit.

In the meantime, Cheatham, who reportedly had been outside the bar, picked up the wounded Clinton in the Oakhurst Homes area. They drove away with Clinton in the back and a third man, who also has not been identified, in the front passenger’s seat, authorities said.

Cheatham approached the location where the police cars, with emergency lights flashing, were parked in the street along with the stopped white car and the woman driver, who had been placed in handcuffs, police have said.

“He (Cheatham) slowed down and then sped up. How fast he was driving is still to be determined,” Long said.

No gunfire from car

Although the investigation continues, it appears no shots were fired by anybody in the Cheatham car when police began shooting, the prosecutor said.

The authorities have not disclosed how many times Cheatham was shot. The unidentified front-seat passenger received a minor graze wound and was treated at Memorial Medical Center. Clinton was admitted to Memorial and was in fair condition Tuesday, a hospital spokesman said.

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