A South Carolina man who survived being shot nine times by police has sued officers who he claims behaved “like cowboys from a John Wayne movie.”
Trevor Mullinax was sitting in a pickup truck on private property and had a hunting shotgun with him in May 2021 when police were called to perform a welfare check, the lawsuit claims.
Court papers state that Mr Mullinax’s mother, Tammy Beason, was standing by the truck as her son suffered a mental health crisis and that “at no point did he point the weapon at himself or any other person.”
The lawsuit claims that after the caller phoned 911 and asked for the welfare check, officers did not try to call Mr Mullinax or his mother, despite being given their phone numbers, reported WBTV.
“Prior to arriving at the Plaintiffs’ location, Sheriff’s deputies failed to plan, choosing instead to ride in like cowboys from a John Wayne movie, defaulting to using deadly force, immediately, without attempting to deescalate the situation, in complete disregard for State law/regulation, Sheriff’s policies, and/or County ordinances,” the lawsuit states.
Court papers state that deputies from the York County Sheriff’s Office fired nearly 50 rounds at Mr Mullinax, hitting him nine times, including in the head.
Lawyers for Mr Mullinax say he had his hands in the air and his mother, who is also part of the lawsuit, was directly in the line of fire.
And the lawsuit claims that during the encounter, Mr Mullinax never raised or pointed a weapon that would have warranted the use of deadly force by the deputies.
The sheriff’s office says that Mr Mullinax pulled a weapon on the deputies, causing them to fire upon him.
“These deputies responded appropriately to the threat as they were trained to do,” York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson said in a statement. “Had Mr Mullinax made different choices that day, deputies would not have been required to use force.”
The agency also says that the shooting was investigated independently by the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division, and all the deputies involved were cleared of any wrongdoing by the 16th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
Three of the four deputies still work for the force and a fourth left to join the private sector.
