SC judge says case of Chester man shot by police should be dismissed because he pointed gun
A South Carolina magistrate judge has recommended dismissal of a federal lawsuit filed by the family of a Black man shot to death by police in the parking lot of a Chester Walmart.
Magistrate Judge Paige Gossett said in her recommendation that evidence in the case, including police video, showed the man pointing a gun at officers.
Ariane McCree was shot and killed by officers in November 2019 in the parking lot of a Chester Walmart. Police and prosecutors said McCree had a gun that he pointed at police before the shooting despite his hands being handcuffed behind his back.
McCree allegedly assaulted an officer and ran from custody in the store after he shoplifted a door lock. He then retrieved a gun from his car and pointed it at officers before he was shot, police and prosecutors said.
McCree was a former football player at Chester High School and Jackson State University, a historically Black college in Jackson, Mississippi.
McCree’s mother, who is his estate representative, filed a lawsuit alleging wrongful death, excessive force and other claims against the officers who shot McCree, Walmart and the city of Chester in 2020 after the November 2019 shooting. The lawsuit claimed McCree’s federal civil rights were violated, among other claims.
Court records name the officers involved in the shooting as Nicholas Harris and Justin Baker.
Lawyers for the officers, Walmart and the city of Chester have denied wrongdoing in the shooting, court documents show.
Gossett wrote in a recommendation the lawsuit should be dismissed because police videos, witness statements and other evidence shows McCree assaulted an officer, fled while handcuffed, armed himself and pointed a gun at police before he was killed.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit didn’t produce evidence contradicting officials’ claims about McCree possessing a gun, Gossett wrote.
The recommendation to dismiss the lawsuit came after defendants — the two officers, Chester and Walmart — asked that the case be dismissed.
Gossett said the claims alleging false arrest, excessive force, bystander liability and corporate liability should be dismissed for reasons that include the officers’ use of force being justified, documents show.
“No reasonable jury could conclude that the officers’ use of deadly force when faced with that threat was unreasonable,” Gossett wrote.
Gossett recommended the lawsuit’s remaining parts be sent back to South Carolina civil court in Chester.
The presiding federal judge in the lawsuit, Joseph Anderson, has not ruled on magistrate Gossett’s recommendation. Anderson can accept or reject the recommendation to give what is called “summary judgment” for the defendants that would dismiss the lawsuit.
McCree’s lawyers have not responded in court documents to the magistrate judge’s recommendation.
SC Attorney General: No charges against police, shooting was justified
S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson said in 2020 the shooting was justified and no criminal charges would be brought against the officers after an independent investigation from the State Law Enforcement Division. Wilson asked that federal prosecutors review the case.
Chester police released body camera footage in the case to the Herald and the public that authorities say showed McCree had the gun and was pointing it despite being handcuffed behind his back.
Civil suit back to Chester court?
The city of Chester has said in court documents the suit against the city should be dismissed because the actions of the officers were lawful and justified.
“The facts clearly demonstrate that McCree assaulted Harris, fled from the security office, went to his car and came out with a gun and pointed the gun at the officers,” Chester’s lawyers wrote in court documents. “The officers fired in defense of themselves and other citizens in the parking lot.”
Lawsuit claims different facts
The lawsuit filed by the McCree family and their lawyers does not acknowledge McCree had a gun or that he pointed it at the officers. Documents filed by McCree’s legal team say statements from officers and witnesses in the case are not reliable.
The lawsuit claimed McCree ran outside to find safety after the initial confrontation in the store and police started a “firefight” in the parking lot.
“Ariane—hands cuffed, outnumbered, and terrorized by the armed officers shooting at him—was unable to find safety,” McCree’s lawyers wrote in the lawsuit.
There was a march for justice through the streets of Chester when the lawsuit was filed in 2020.
Magistrate judge says no ‘liar liar pants on fire’ claim should stop dismissal
Gossett, the magistrate judge, stated in the recommendation that McCree’s family and their lawyers have not put forth evidence that contradicts the facts about McCree having the gun or pointing it at police, other than to allege that police and other statements cannot be accepted as fact.
“Though Plaintiff has exhaustively posited reasons why a fact finder should not believe that evidence, she has identified no evidence supporting her theory that McCree never held a weapon or never pointed it at the officers,” Gossett wrote.
Gossett called claims in the suit by McCree’s mother a “liar, liar, pants on fire argument” and “insufficient to defeat a well-supported motion for summary judgment.”
What happens now?
Anderson, the federal judge in Columbia, has to issue a ruling about dismissing the lawsuit and possibly returning what is left of the McCree claim to Chester civil court.
No timetable has been set for that ruling.
Efforts to reach McCree family lawyers in the case by telephone and email Friday were unsuccessful.
This story was originally published August 27, 2022 at 9:01 AM.
