Attorney: Charges unlikely in 2013 Fayetteville officer-involved shooting
FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- An attorney for the family of a Fayetteville teen shot and killed by police last year told the ABC11 I-Team that he is doubtful the investigation will result in charges.
Allen Rogers represents the family of Shaqur McNair, who was a 16-year-old Westover High School junior, who was shot by Fayetteville police officer, Christopher Hunt. The shooting occurred in front of McNair's Bertram Place home on Oct. 13, 2013, following a call for a domestic disturbance.
Police said McNair was armed. Witnesses said he was not.
Rogers said he and the family have reviewed the State Bureau of Investigation's report that was turned over to the Cumberland County District Attorney's Office in June. It is not public record. Rogers said key, unbiased witness accounts were excluded, as well as electronic evidence supporting the police account of what happened.
"We know that Officer Hunt was the first person on the scene, but we also know that his audio and video were not working, and only begun to work immediately after the shooting," said Rogers.
Rogers also said there is no evidence linking the teen to a stolen handgun that was later recovered from the scene. Police said McNair pulled his shirt up, and flashed the weapon, prompting Hunt to shoot.
"However, the report has no evidence of fingerprints on that gun tying it to Shaqur McNair," said Rogers.
"I know my son wouldn't tote a butter knife, much less would he tote a gun," said McNair's mother, Alfricka Bennett. "He wouldn't even tote the clippers around if he had to cut the edges or something. So a gun -- no."
The D.A.'s Office is expected to release its findings in the coming days.
THE SHOOTING
Officer Hunt, a 27-year-old, two-year veteran of the department, was called to Bertram Place on the evening of Oct. 13.
Click here to read more on the shooting.
Tony Smith said his daughter had been assaulted by her boyfriend, Algeria, McNair's older brother. Smith and his wife, Sheila, headed to McNair's home in self-described "war" to protect their daughter and grandson.
Tony Smith can be heard in 911 recordings calling Fayetteville police for back-up.
"I got a man who's jumped on my daughter," he told the operator.
Officer Hunt pulled up to the scene after the Smiths arrived. Police described the cul-de-sac as a chaotic scene which included neighbors and McNair's younger, 14-year-old, twin brothers. Hunt was alone.
Tony Smith said Hunt initially mistook him for the troublemaker, but then proceeded to put Algeria in the back of a squad car.
"I guess that's when you could say all hell broke loose," Tony Smith recalled in a phone interview earlier this week.
McNair's mother, Bennett, said she began yelling at Officer Hunt about handcuffing her older son. Smith said Hunt repeatedly ordered Bennett to back up, and she wouldn't listen.
Bennett said Hunt reached to handcuff her and she snatched her hand from him, turning to run. As the officer tackled her, witnesses said Shaqur McNair began to run toward his mother from a nearby porch in an effort to protect her.
Police said the teen ignored Hunt's commands to stop, and began to pull the pistol.
Then there were three gunshots.
"Last I seen Shaqur when he was on the ground in my face," recalled Bennett. "And that's when he said 'Mama, he shot me. He shot me for no reason.'"
"I said 'Don't let my baby die,'" Bennett continued. "You didn't have to shoot him."
McNair, with gunshot wounds to the chest, stomach and leg, would later die at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.
Officer Hunt frantically called for backup following the shooting. A female officer would arrive within seconds.
A day after the shooting, police said they recovered a stolen 9 mm handgun from the scene. The department reported evidence suggested the gun had been in McNair's possession, but they did not note where it was recovered.
Witnesses, including the Smiths, recounted a different scenario.
"I just seen the police shoot, shoot, shoot somebody for nothing," a frantic 911 caller told an operator that night. "Like literally gunning him down. Like no gun involved nothing. Just shot him."
"The child had his hands up," said Sheila Smith earlier this week, noting she was holding her grandchild as she and her husband obeyed orders to get down on the ground before the shooting.
"From where I was standing, I did not see one," added Tony Smith, in reference to an alleged handgun in McNair's waistband.
The Smiths were interviewed by Fayetteville police the evening of the shooting, offered sworn affidavits, but said they were never contacted by state investigators for follow-up. Because of this, Sheila Smith said she was surprised to read Rogers's assessment of the state investigation in a Fayetteville Observer report printed several weeks ago.
"They didn't ask the question as to Shaqur's position at the time he was shot," said Rogers referring the FPD interview. "They didn't ask whether Shaqur's hands were up at the time he was shot. They avoided that subject."
Bennett is still facing assault against a government official charge for her interaction with Hunt that evening. Hunt was placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.
POLICY CHANGE
Immediately following the shooting, Fayetteville police revised their policy regarding domestic calls -- no officer is to answer one alone. They have to wait for back-up unless there is an immediate threat of serious injury or bodily harm.
Fayetteville police stand by their account that McNair was armed and posed a threat to Officer Hunt.
This week, a department spokesman said he could not comment on Rogers's or the family's claims or the state investigation until the D.A.'s Office offered their findings.
Lt. Todd Joyce did offer this statement.
"We want to safeguard the lives in our community," said Joyce. "We will continue to work with the community with issues of youth violence and young people possessing firearms illegally."
District Attorney Billy West said earlier in the week that a report on his findings would come soon now that Rogers has completed his review of the state report.
Rogers said he and the family are planning civil action by year's end.
"They not going to sweep it under the rug," said Bennett. "I'm not going to let 'em."
On Saturday at 1 p.m., a vigil is marking the anniversary of McNair's death will be held at the Westover Parks and Recreation Center on Bonanza Drive.
