Investigators say the 71-year-old reached a neighbor and called 911 after her son allegedly attacked and threatened her.
LEHIGH TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A 71-year-old woman who police say was knocked down, choked and threatened by her adult son escaped the family home when the disturbance moved outside, reaching a neighbor before the emergency call that ultimately brought officers to Heritage Lane.
The woman’s escape is the pivotal point in a July 29 episode that has since become both a domestic-violence prosecution and an officer-involved-shooting investigation. Her son, 49-year-old Sean Deibert, faces charges stemming from the alleged attack on her as well as later accusations involving police. Authorities say an officer shot Deibert after he approached officers with a knife inside the residence. He survived and was later committed to Northampton County Prison on cash bail.
According to the account the woman gave investigators, the violence began in or around her room inside the home. State police later said she reported that Deibert entered the room, pushed her to the floor, choked her and hit her in the head. She also accused him of threatening to kill her. Earlier reports described her saying he had thrown her down and climbed on top of her. The precise allegations will have to be proved in court, and Deibert is presumed innocent unless convicted.
The next stage of the disturbance unfolded beyond the room where the alleged assault occurred. Authorities said Deibert went outside, yelling and threatening a neighbor. Rather than remaining trapped in the home, his mother was then able to get away. She went to a nearby residence and called for police. That movement from one house to another connected several people who would become important to the investigation: the mother as the alleged assault victim, a neighbor who was allegedly threatened and the officers responding to the emergency.
Lehigh Township police were dispatched to the 4100 block of Heritage Lane at about 3:51 p.m. The first public statement from Pennsylvania State Police identified the call broadly as a domestic incident involving a 49-year-old man and a 71-year-old woman. As investigators developed the case, more detail emerged about what officers said they encountered after arriving. The later account described Deibert yelling outside and having what police called nunchucks in his clothing before he returned inside the residence.
The responding officers spoke with the woman and learned the allegations she had made against her son. Police then tried to get Deibert to come out. Investigators said he did not comply. Officers ultimately went into the home, where state police said Deibert emerged from his room carrying a knife. Authorities say he continued toward the officers after being told to drop it. That alleged movement became the immediate event preceding the use of force.
One Lehigh Township officer fired two rounds, striking Deibert in the chest and arm, state police later said. Another officer deployed a stun gun. Investigators said Deibert then dropped the knife and went down to his knees. The officers provided aid as they took him into custody, and Northampton Regional EMS transported him for hospital treatment. No publicly reviewed report said that one of the responding officers suffered a physical injury in the encounter.
Police allege the confrontation did not end with the gunfire. Investigators said Deibert made a death threat toward an officer after he had been shot. State police later filed three aggravated-assault counts tied to the officers, along with possession of an instrument of crime and another terroristic-threats charge. Those allegations expanded a case that had initially centered on charges of strangulation, simple assault and terroristic threats arising from what police said happened before officers entered.
The original strangulation allegation carries its own significance under Pennsylvania law. The state defines the offense around knowingly or intentionally interfering with breathing or blood circulation by applying pressure to the neck or throat, or by blocking the nose and mouth. The statute says prosecutors do not have to show that a victim suffered a visible physical injury. It also provides higher grading in specified circumstances involving family or household members, a provision relevant when the accused and alleged victim are parent and child.
The threats alleged during the episode are legally distinct from the strangulation accusation. Pennsylvania’s terroristic-threats statute generally addresses communications threatening crimes of violence when made with the intent or level of recklessness specified in the law. Here, police have described separate alleged threats involving the mother, a neighbor and later an officer. The existence of a charging allegation does not establish that the required intent or any other element has been proved.
The woman received care after escaping. Authorities initially gave few specifics about her medical condition, and the available reports do not establish a complete diagnosis or recovery timeline. Her description of how she felt afterward conveyed that she remained physically affected by the episode, but no verified update reviewed for this article provides a detailed account of longer-term injuries. That uncertainty is important because the criminal allegations can proceed without journalists or investigators filling in medical details that have not been publicly released.
The neighborhood call also set in motion scrutiny of the police response itself. Because a Lehigh Township officer fired a weapon, Pennsylvania State Police Troop M’s Major Case Team took over the officer-involved-shooting investigation, with the Northampton County District Attorney’s Office involved. Lehigh Township police later said the officers were on administrative leave as part of normal procedure. The department emphasized that leave should not be interpreted as a finding that any officer acted improperly.
At a township meeting in August, police also disclosed that assistance had been requested from neighboring agencies, including Moore Township, Walnutport and Slatington. Supervisors publicly thanked officers for responding to the incident. By that point, however, the central factual and legal questions had shifted from an emergency unfolding on a residential street to evidence being evaluated by investigators and prosecutors: what happened to the mother, what threats were made, how Deibert allegedly confronted officers and whether the officer’s gunfire complied with the law.
By Aug. 13, local reporting said Deibert had been committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $100,000 cash bail. The reports reviewed for this update do not establish the final outcome of his criminal charges, and no final public conclusion concerning the officer-involved shooting was located. The July 29 case therefore remains defined by the mother’s escape and 911 call, followed by two continuing legal processes that arose from what happened after help arrived.
Author note: Last updated September 9, 2026.