Chattanooga police officers will not be charged for firing 59 gunshots at an armed man on his front porch after he walked around his neighborhood with a rifle ranting about suicide, a prosecutor said Thursday.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Chattanooga police officers will not be charged for firing 59 gunshots at an armed man on his front porch after he walked around his neighborhood with a rifle ranting about suicide, a prosecutor said Thursday. Hamilton County District Attorney Bill Cox said he made the decision based on a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation report that shows officers were placed in "reasonable fear of death or serious bodily harm to themselves or others" by the actions of 32-year-old Alonzo Heyward. Police have described Heyward’s death on July 18, 2009, as a case of "suicide by cop." Cox said the TBI investigation did not "establish criminal culpability on the part of any officers involved" in the pre-dawn shooting. The medical examiner found 43 bullet wounds in Heyward’s chest, face, arms, hands, legs, buttocks and groin. Heyward’s father, James L. Marine, questioned the investigation Thursday, saying his son, a girlfriend and other witnesses were never interviewed. "I knew it was a waste of taxpayer money," Marine said. "They haven’t talked to any of the four witnesses." "How can you justify shooting a man who was laying on the porch?" Marine said. TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment. The officers’ attorney, Brian Hoss, has said they correctly followed police procedures by first directing Heyward to drop the loaded gun and then trying unsuccessfully to disarm him with a stun gun before Heyward "turned around and lowered the gun and pointed it at them." An attorney for Heyward’s family, Archie Sanders III of Memphis, declined comment on the investigation report, saying he had not seen it. Sanders is representing Heyward’s family in a federal wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit that says Heyward pointed the rifle only at himself and never said or did anything to make the officers fear for their lives. The suit describes how the officers fired simultaneously in three separate volleys, although Heyward never pulled the trigger. The lawsuit contends police violated Heyward’s rights guaranteed by the Fourth and 14th amendments, including freedom from the use of deadly, unreasonable, unjustified and excessive force. The suit set for trial in January 2011 also says the number of gunshots is "obviously a factor." "This does not in any way affect the civil case," Sanders said. "We believe the allegations in our complaint are true." Although Heyward was black and the six officers are white, the suit does not mention race. Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. Photo: Courtesy
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