>Ward "cooperatively and politely" answered questions for several minutes and told McWhorter he had "mistaken" another vehicle for his mother’s SUV, the complaint said. When McWhorter asked for Ward's identification, Ward began to search through his pockets and pulled out a couple of lighters.
>
>McWhorter asked if Ward had any weapons, and Ward said he didn’t think so but that he might have a pocketknife, the bodycam video shows. McWhorter told Ward not to pull the pocketknife out if he did have it. Ward did not have a pocketknife on him, the complaint said.
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>Ward located a "prescribed anti-anxiety tablet" in his pocket and put it in his mouth, the complaint said. McWhorter "aggressively demanded" to know what Ward had placed in his mouth and "suddenly grabbed" Ward and dragged him from the SUV, the complaint said.
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>McWhorter and Gonzales threw Ward "violently to the ground, recklessly and deliberately initiating a wholly unnecessary and purposeless physical use of force against and struggle," the complaint said.
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>"It was a pill. It was a pill. Let me go," Ward can be heard saying in the bodycam video, which becomes blurred as the bodycam falls to the ground. "Stop resisting, bro," McWhorter can be heard saying. Gonzales's bodycam video appears to show both officers wrestling with Ward on the ground.
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>Ward did not "meaningfully" resist and offered a "paltry attempt at self-defense" as he was "trapped in the grips of two armed police officers," the complaint said. McWhorter did not issue any warning to Ward that he would use deadly force, the complaint said.
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>"Within only a few seconds of pulling Richard – who was unarmed – from the car onto the ground underneath the hands-on force being applied by both deputies, Deputy McWhorter shot Richard three times with his service firearm, point blank, in the chest," the complaint said.
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>Ward's mother and her boyfriend can be heard screaming after the shooting. "What happened?" Ward's mother shouts. "Oh my god, no, no." She later asks: "Can you guys do CPR?"
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>Ward "survived for some time" after McWhorter shot him, "writhing in pain and shock," but neither deputy provided first aid or took a pulse, the complaint said.
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>"Instead, they stood and watched him bleed out as middle school students strolled by a few feet away," according to a statement from the family's attorneys.
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>Emergency medical personnel arrived and attempted to render aid to Ward nearly three minutes after the shooting, the complaint said. Ward was pronounced dead at the scene.
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>The officers then falsely arrested Ward's mother and her boyfriend, seized their property and interrogated them, the complaint said.
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>Three days after the incident, Gonzalez told investigators Ward was "putting up a fight," "not complying with verbal orders" and grabbed at McWhorter’s gun belt, according to the district attorney’s office. She said she thought Ward was going to hurt her or McWhorter.
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>McWhorter, who was interviewed more than a week after the incident, told investigators Ward had reached into his jacket "as if he was carrying a weapon." He said he pulled Ward out of the car "to handcuff him and to check for weapons." In the struggle, he said he felt Ward "messing with his gun side" and was afraid Ward would get his gun, knock him out or paralyze him.
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>Both deputies told investigators they did not render aid after the shooting because they believed the people in the car posed a threat, according to the district attorney’s office.
lukethe OP t1_j9s91z5 wrote
Reply to Pueblo County, sheriff's deputies sued for 2022 fatal shooting outside middle school by lukethe
>Ward "cooperatively and politely" answered questions for several minutes and told McWhorter he had "mistaken" another vehicle for his mother’s SUV, the complaint said. When McWhorter asked for Ward's identification, Ward began to search through his pockets and pulled out a couple of lighters.
>
>McWhorter asked if Ward had any weapons, and Ward said he didn’t think so but that he might have a pocketknife, the bodycam video shows. McWhorter told Ward not to pull the pocketknife out if he did have it. Ward did not have a pocketknife on him, the complaint said.
>
>Ward located a "prescribed anti-anxiety tablet" in his pocket and put it in his mouth, the complaint said. McWhorter "aggressively demanded" to know what Ward had placed in his mouth and "suddenly grabbed" Ward and dragged him from the SUV, the complaint said.
>
>McWhorter and Gonzales threw Ward "violently to the ground, recklessly and deliberately initiating a wholly unnecessary and purposeless physical use of force against and struggle," the complaint said.
>
>"It was a pill. It was a pill. Let me go," Ward can be heard saying in the bodycam video, which becomes blurred as the bodycam falls to the ground. "Stop resisting, bro," McWhorter can be heard saying. Gonzales's bodycam video appears to show both officers wrestling with Ward on the ground.
>
>Ward did not "meaningfully" resist and offered a "paltry attempt at self-defense" as he was "trapped in the grips of two armed police officers," the complaint said. McWhorter did not issue any warning to Ward that he would use deadly force, the complaint said.
>
>"Within only a few seconds of pulling Richard – who was unarmed – from the car onto the ground underneath the hands-on force being applied by both deputies, Deputy McWhorter shot Richard three times with his service firearm, point blank, in the chest," the complaint said.
>
>Ward's mother and her boyfriend can be heard screaming after the shooting. "What happened?" Ward's mother shouts. "Oh my god, no, no." She later asks: "Can you guys do CPR?"
>
>Ward "survived for some time" after McWhorter shot him, "writhing in pain and shock," but neither deputy provided first aid or took a pulse, the complaint said.
>
>"Instead, they stood and watched him bleed out as middle school students strolled by a few feet away," according to a statement from the family's attorneys.
>
>Emergency medical personnel arrived and attempted to render aid to Ward nearly three minutes after the shooting, the complaint said. Ward was pronounced dead at the scene.
>
>The officers then falsely arrested Ward's mother and her boyfriend, seized their property and interrogated them, the complaint said.
>
>Three days after the incident, Gonzalez told investigators Ward was "putting up a fight," "not complying with verbal orders" and grabbed at McWhorter’s gun belt, according to the district attorney’s office. She said she thought Ward was going to hurt her or McWhorter.
>
>McWhorter, who was interviewed more than a week after the incident, told investigators Ward had reached into his jacket "as if he was carrying a weapon." He said he pulled Ward out of the car "to handcuff him and to check for weapons." In the struggle, he said he felt Ward "messing with his gun side" and was afraid Ward would get his gun, knock him out or paralyze him.
>
>Both deputies told investigators they did not render aid after the shooting because they believed the people in the car posed a threat, according to the district attorney’s office.
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