Man sues South Carolina police after being shot at 47 times during mental health crisis

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?”

Video shows shooting

The video shows deputies driving up to Mr Mullinax’s truck, which was parked on his family’s land near Rock Hill, on 7 May, 2021.

A family member had called 911 because Mr Mullinax was threatening to kill himself.

He said that “we’re just trying to get our buddy some help”, and gave the operator the mobile phone numbers for him and his mother, according to the 911 call.

The deputies did not call either and drove to the truck after Mr Mullinax’s grandfather told them where it was, Mr Bamberg said.

Some 47 shots were fired in five seconds, according to the State Law Enforcement Division report on the shooting.

The video shows two deputies pulling Mr Mullinax bleeding and wounded from the truck and handcuffing him.

‘You’re not a death squad’

“You’re not a death squad. You’re supposed to try to help people, even if you’ve got to shoot them,” Mr Bamberg said.

“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.”

Mr Mullinax was the only person charged in the 2021 shooting and faces one count of pointing and presenting a firearm – a felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

At the time of the shooting he had a warrant for his arrest on a different charge, but his lawyers said the burglary charge was dismissed and there are no court records of it.

‘If it helps one single person… I’m OK with it’

The York County Sheriff’s Office released a statement from Sheriff Kevin Tolson on Tuesday saying: “Mr Mullinax chose to put these men in danger by pulling a shotgun.

“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.”

Mr Mullinax said he hates what his mental health crisis turned into, adding: “But if it helps one single person in this world to not have to go through what me and my family have, I’m OK with it.”

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