correction
A previous version of this article misstated the date of the police shooting. It happened on May 7, 2021, not May 5. The article has been corrected.
But the officers rode in “like cowboys from a John Wayne movie,” the lawsuit alleges. In a confrontation captured by dashboard and body-worn cameras, they can be seen quickly drawing their guns and firing at Mullinax, riddling his windshield with bullet holes. Beason, who was inches away, screamed and darted to the side.
The officers fired about 50 rounds at Mullinax, according to the lawsuit.
Mullinax’s attorneys say his hands were raised before the officers opened fire in the May 2021 encounter, but the deputies who shot him alleged that he reached for his gun. Mullinax was shot nine times, including three times in the head, and sustained several injuries that required surgery, Beason told The Washington Post.
Mullinax and Beason sued York County and its sheriff’s office on Friday in the county’s Common Pleas Court, alleging gross negligence, among other charges.
“As a mother, there are not enough negative words to tell you how I felt that day,” Beason said at a Tuesday news conference. “All we wanted was to get some help for my son.”
The sheriff’s office said in a statement Tuesday that the deputies involved in the shooting were investigated by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and cleared of wrongdoing by the 16th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, and that Mullinax had been charged with presenting a firearm during the confrontation.
“These deputies responded appropriately to the threat as they were trained to do,” Sheriff Kevin Tolson said in the statement.
Mullinax’s firearm case is pending trial, according to court records. His attorneys said Tuesday that he was innocent of the charge and never used the shotgun in an aggressive manner.
Mullinax was in a severe state of emotional distress before the encounter with the deputies, according to Justin Bamberg, an attorney representing Mullinax and Beason. He’d had an argument with his girlfriend two days earlier and began contemplating suicide, Bamberg said at the news conference. Mullinax kicked a door during the argument, which led to a burglary charge that was later dropped, Bamberg said.
On the day he was shot, Mullinax had visited his grandmother’s gravesite, Bamberg said. Beason was alarmed and drove to find Mullinax, who had parked in a York County field with a hunting shotgun that he owned. Beason said she spoke to Mullinax for four hours as he sat in his truck cab.
“I really felt that he was getting to a point that he was willing to come with me,” Beason said.
Beason shared what was happening with an extended family member, who called 911 and requested a wellness check on Mullinax, according to call logs shared by Bamberg. The caller told a dispatcher that Mullinax was suicidal and locked in his truck with a knife.
“We’re just trying to get our buddy some help,” the caller said. He later repeated the warning that Mullinax was armed.
“I say that because I don’t want him to hop out and get shot,” the caller said.
Around 6:15 p.m. on May 7, 2021, several patrol cars from the York County Sheriff’s Office approached Beason and Mullinax in the field at speed — “flying down through the field,” Beason said — and stopped a few feet from Mullinax’s truck, video shows.
Four deputies aimed their guns at the pickup truck as they exited their cars and yelled “Hands! Hands! Hands!” at Mullinax and Beason, who was still standing by Mullinax’s truck. Six seconds after first issuing a command, the officers opened fire at Mullinax.
Mullinax is not clearly visible in body-camera footage at the moment he is fired upon by deputies.
“It felt like a split second,” Beason said. “They just jumped out of the cars, and then I start to realize that the sounds that I’m hearing are bullets hitting the windshield.”
The four officers fired continuously for six seconds, the footage shows.
The officers then handcuffed both Beason and Mullinax, who was unresponsive and covered in blood, the footage shows. A deputy can be heard confirming that a shotgun was in the truck cabin. Officers did not appear to recover a knife.
After the shooting, the officers can be heard alleging that Mullinax pointed the shotgun at them before they opened fire. Although the body-camera footage does not clearly depict Mullinax in that moment, it shows that his bloodied arms were raised in front of his face at the time officers handcuffed him. The shotgun was lying on his seat, near the center console.
Mullinax was shot in the head, groin, hands and right arm, according to the lawsuit. He required surgery, and metal screws were installed in his right shoulder.
“He was literally trying to shield himself from the bullets,” Beason said. “His hands were up in the air.”
Beason was unharmed in the shooting but said she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. She relives the day in nightmares and now distrusts law enforcement.
“It’s very difficult to really put into words,” Beason said. “Never ever did I think that I was going to have to protect my child or me from people who are supposed to be sworn to serve and protect us.”
Mullinax continues to receive mental health treatment and has improved greatly, Beason added. He spoke through tears at Tuesday’s news conference, noting that May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
“I hate that I have to be the face of it this month,” Mullinax said, his voice breaking. “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 okay with it.”
