While responding to a call about a man choking a woman, a police officer was attacked by the suspect and bashed in the head with a “football-sized” rock. Despite the suspect’s fatal shooting being ruled “justified,” the county was forced to pay the suspect’s family a massive settlement.
When the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office received a call about a man choking a woman and attempting to pull her out of her vehicle, officers rushed to a department-store parking lot to find 32-year-old Mikel McIntyre engaging with his mother, Brigett McIntyre. The call was reportedly the second alert that day police had received concerning the man’s erratic behavior. Incredibly, EMS had also responded separately that day about an emotional-disturbed man at the same address.
McIntyre’s mother confirmed that she had attempted twice that day to place her son on an involuntary psychiatric hold but that he failed to meet the criteria for such an action, according to the Sacramento Bee. Unfortunately, it would be the last time she would ever see him alive.
According to the official report, a witness at the scene told police that he saw “a white cop and a black male” in a physical struggle as the officer tried to arrest the man. He confirmed that the man fitting McIntyre’s description “broke free and then picked up a big piece of concrete and hit the officer in the head and chest with it,” Blue Lives Matter reports. The object turned out to be a large river rock, which left Wright bleeding profusely from a serious head injury.
McIntyre made his way toward an overpass before running down the side of the highway to evade pursuing police officers. Dashcam footage captured his death as officers fired 28 rounds, striking him in the back, both arms, both thighs, and his head before he was ultimately stopped by a police K9.
An investigation by Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert’s office concluded that the deputies’ actions and use of force were “justified” because McIntyre was a threat to the public, FOX40 reports. However, his family didn’t accept the ruling.