Man shot during mental health crisis sues South Carolina sheriff's office

A South Carolina man is suing a sheriff’s office and a county after deputies shot him nine times while he was having a mental health crisis in a parked vehicle with a shotgun in his lap.

Four York County Sheriff’s deputies fired nearly 50 shots at Trevor Mullinax seconds after they arrived for a wellness check in May 2021, according to a lawsuit filed Friday. The deputies were “cleared of any wrongdoing” by prosecutors after an investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.

The complaint accuses the county and the sheriff’s department gross negligence, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, defamation, civil assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and other offenses.

“Those officers went out there like John Wayne cowboys. They came out there like gunslingers,” attorney Justin Bamberg said at a news conference.

What happened during the shooting?

On May 7, 2021, Mullinax was “suffering severe emotional distress” and “contemplating suicide” while sitting inside his pickup truck and talking to his mother, Tammy Beason, through the driver’s side window, according to the suit. A friend called police, asked them to do a wellness check and provided Mullinax and Beason’s phone numbers.

Police never called the pair or contacted a mental health professional before arriving, the suit said.

Police dashcam video shared by Mullinax’s lawyers shows the deputies drove up to Mullinax’s truck, yelled “hands” several times and then opened fire seconds later. Beason can be seen running from the shots and screaming as deputies handcuff her. Deputies also approach the truck, pull out a bleeding Mullinax and handcuff him as well.

“You’re not a death squad. You’re supposed to try to help people, even if you’ve got to shoot them,” Bamberg said during the news conference. “They handcuff this man with three bullet holes in his head and then they handcuff his mama. Treat her like a criminal. This was disgusting.”

Bamberg said Mullinax never pointed the shotgun he was holding at the officers and was never a threat to anyone except himself.

York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson said a Wednesday press conference Beason told SLED investigators Mullinax grabbed the shotgun when deputies approached his vehicle. According to medical records obtained by state investigators, Mullinax told a doctor at the hospital he was talking to his mother about getting help when officers arrived and suddenly, he reached for the gun.

A county official referred a request for comment from USA TODAY to the sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s office and an attorney for the sheriff’s office and the county did not immediately respond.

Mullinax is the only one charged after the shooting

Mullinax was charged with pointing and presenting a firearm and “these are the only charges which should issue as a result of this incident,” Kevin Brackett, solicitor for the 16th judicial circuit, said in a letter to a SLED agent obtained by local media. The felony charge carries a maximum penalty of fire years in prison.

Tolson said Wednesday Mullinax was not legally permitted to possess a firearm because he was a felon. Mullinax’s attorneys said there was a warrant for Mullinax’s arrest at the time of the shooting, but a burglary charge against him was later dropped. He was “lawfully in possession of a hunting shotgun,” according to the suit.

Deputies fired their weapons at Mullinax, who also had a knife, because they feared for their safety, Tolson said.

“If a suspect pulls a weapon on a man or woman wearing a badge that says York County Sheriff’s Office, that situation is not going to end well,” Tolson said.

Police chief says more mental health resources needed

Three of the four deputies involved in the shooting are still working for the sheriff’s office and the fourth left voluntarily, according to the sheriff’s office. The officer’s use of force was “appropriate given the nature of the threat they faced,” Brackett said in the letter.

Tolson said police officers shouldn’t be responsible for handling mental health crises and more resources are needed.

Up to 50% of fatal encounters with law enforcement involve someone with a mental illness, according to a 2016 study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the death of others like Daniel Prude, a growing number of cities have begun to divert some 911 calls to mental health or social workers.

Mother, son describe impact of shooting

Beason said she did not learn her son was alive until six hours after the shooting. She said it’s been hard to live in the same county where the shooting took place and worries about running into the officers who shot her son.

“They destroyed everything that I believe in that day,” she said. “And it has taken me a very long time to try and recover from that. I’m still recovering.”

Mullinax spoke briefly at the press conference and said that mental health issues need to be taken more seriously.

“May is mental health awareness month,” he said. “I hate that I have to be the face of it this month, but if it helps even one single person in this world to not have to go through what me and my family have then I’m okay with it.”