A man in South Carolina has claimed police shot at him nearly 50 times when he was having a mental health crisis in a parked truck while talking to his mother.
Trevor Mullinax, 29, survived being hit nine times in May 2021, with three wounds to the head, according to the lawsuit filed against the York County Sheriff’s Office.
Four sheriff’s deputies started shooting seconds after arriving on the scene and yelling “hands” several times, as seen in police dash cam footage released by Mr Mullinax’s lawyers.
The barrage lasted five seconds and left the pickup’s windscreen riddled with bullet holes.
“Those officers went out there like John Wayne cowboys. They came out there like gunslingers,” attorney Justin Bamberg said at a news conference.
Prosecutors reviewing the case did not charge the four deputies.
The officers said they saw Mr Mullinax reach into the truck’s rear seat, grab a shotgun and point it at them, according to a letter from solicitor Kevin Brackett clearing the officers.
However Mr Mullinax said his hands were raised.
His mother, Tammy Beason, said she had been trying to comfort her son for hours after he threatened to kill himself.
She was standing by the driver’s-side window when the officers opened fire.
Ms Beason was not wounded but officers handcuffed her less than a minute after the shooting. Two deputies took her away as she cried: “What are they going to do with my son?”
