ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA: Trevor Mullinax, a 29-year-old man who allegedly wanted to take his own life, is suing police officers for “excessive use of deadly force” after being shot nine times by cops and surviving the encounter. The man, who has previously been arrested for burglary and domestic violence, claimed he was sitting in his pickup truck and talking to his mother, Tammy Beason when police attacked them “like cowboys from a John Wayne movie.”
The York County Sheriff’s Office alleged that Mullinax put officers in danger after he pulled a shotgun, the Daily Mail reported. Although the later admitted to having a shotgun in his truck, he denied pointing the weapon at himself or the officers. Mullinax’s lawyers said that their client raised his hands and complied with the orders from deputies before officers began to fire toward their vehicle. In his lawsuit, Mullinax claimed that the cops drew their guns and used “deadly force, immediately, without attempting to de-escalate the situation.”
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Who is Trevor Mullinax?
Mullinax is a 29-year-old man who survived being shot by cops nine times during a May 2021 incident. He has now filed a lawsuit against the officers for “excessive use of deadly force.” Mullinax lives in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and was reportedly arrested for crimes like burglary and domestic violence before the shooting incident.
Mullinax previously told reporters that he was experiencing a mental health crisis at the time of the incident and the police officers were involved after he battered his girlfriend’s door several days before the shooting. The sheriff's department reportedly received a call for a “wellness check” on Mullinax and sent a team of deputies to his family’s property. The lawsuit states that Mullinax’s grandfather directed officials to the scene where his grandson was parked and talking to his mother.
“Prior to arriving at the location on the property where Plaintiff Mullinax was still sitting inside his pickup truck, Sheriff’s deputies drew their firearms and were prepared to shoot Plaintiff Mullinax and exercise deadly force before they made verbal contact with him,” according to court documents. “Trevor was just in a really dark place and had been contemplating suicide,” his lawyers said. “May is Mental Health Awareness Month,” Mullinax mentioned. “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, I'm OK with it,” he added.
Bodycam footage shows officers firing 50 shots at Trevor Mullinax
A police bodycam footage documenting the incident showed Mullinax inside a pickup truck on his family’s property. Meanwhile, his mother was seen outside the vehicle near the driver’s window. Officers could then be getting out of their vehicles and shouting, “Let me see your hands.” Shortly after, they were seen shooting toward Mullinax’s vehicle and breaking the windscreen glass of his truck.
His mother, 48, was also seen ducking down and running to take cover in the nearby shrubbery. The video showed that at least 50 shots were fired before Beason was heard screaming from inside the vehicle. “There was a round that hit him smack dab in the middle of the back of his head,” Mullinax's lawyer, Justin Bamberg, told a news conference attended by Beason on Tuesday, May 9. “Never seen anybody get shot in the back of the head who's a threat to law enforcement or anybody else,” he added.
York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson issued a statement addressing the lawsuit and said, “Mr Mullinax chose to put these men in danger by pulling a shotgun.” He further added, “These deputies responded appropriately to the threat as they were trained to do. Had Mr. Mullinax made different choices that day, deputies would not have been required to use force.”
