An attorney calls it
unjustified police brutality.
An unarmed man shot and killed
outside his brother's middle school
during the afternoon pickup.
We just got the body camera video.
We want to warn you it may be tough to watch.
Family of Richard Ward will
officially file a lawsuit this
morning for the shooting that happened
a year ago tomorrow. Here's
9 news reporter Steve Stager.
It feels like foreshadowing.
Seconds after, he says that,
Richard Ward would be on the
ground with three gunshot wounds to the
chest. But let's back up and explain how we
get there. 10. Four. I'm in contact
how Richard ends up dead in the pickup
line outside of a Pueblo middle school.
His family says they were there to
pick up his younger brother when
Richard got out of the car to smoke
a cigarette and stretch his legs.
Investigators say when he went
to return to his mother's car,
he accidentally got into another car,
realized his mistake and walked
back to his mother's car.
Someone called the cops.
In Pueblo, Deputy Charles Mcwhorter
talks to Richard in the back seat,
going on
welcome pass for me. Just
looking for my little brother.
You can tell he's uncomfortable, right?
Touching my arm, bro.
Like, why you acting like this?
I'm a little nervous because I'm like,
why do I have a?
They've done things to me.
What have they done to you?
I mean, stop resisting
when you're not resisting.
Mcwhorter wants
to know why he got in that other car.
I just want to hear your
side of the story, man.
That that was my freaking my car.
That's all it was.
Are you under the influence?
Anything. No. OK.
You have an ID with you? And
you have any weapons? This
is where things
escalate. Do you have any weapons?
I think I had a pocket.
You don't think so? Don't pull now,
Richard says he has anxiety.
Ward's lawyer says he takes anxiety
meds. Would you just stick in your mouth?
Get up, get up.
About 20 seconds after Mcwhorter
takes him to the ground.
Stop resisting, bro. Stop. Three shots.
The struggle stops
the deputies back away.
An unarmed Richard Ward never gets back up.
The deputy who shot him explains
what happened as kids with backpacks
walked by in the background.
You alright? Yeah. Are you?
My nose and then tried grabbing him
stuff. No one leaning in to check
on him for another 3 minutes
when firefighters get there.
The DA in Pueblo County
cleared the deputies involved in this
shooting justifying it as self-defense.
As the deputies argued Ward was
reaching for Mcquarters gun,
they justified their pause to
not help him and offer first aid
because the family was in that
car and they believe they may have
posed a threat to the officers.
Ward's family is filing a lawsuit
relating to this case this morning.
We expect to hear from them later on
this morning at a news conference.
It makes I mean everything
escalated so quickly.
Happened in a middle school.
You could see, like,
as you mentioned, the people,
the kids walking behind in backpacks,
it makes you wonder,
why didn't they tase
him first or something.
I mean, it just went real quick.
You wonder. There's a bit of deescalation
at the beginning of the call,
a little bit of talking,
like why are you nervous about us,
that kind of thing.
But it's that moment when he reaches
into his pocket and throws something
in his mouth when things just get
kind of surprisingly shocking
and they pull him out of the car
and they throw him on the ground.
That's going to be the point,
I think, that the attorneys make in
this lawsuit is what justification.
Did officers have to pull him out of the
car even if he put something in his mouth?
I think one thing that I found so
jarring about this report is exactly
what you pointed out with the kids
and their backpacks walking by who
were seeing all of this happening.
Yeah, this was just after
3:00 o'clock in the afternoon.
You imagine any middle school in
town where kids are coming out with
backpacks to meet their parents who
are in that line of cars waiting.
This is exactly where they were.
They were waiting for his brother
to get out of school.
He got out of his car,
just kind of stretch his legs,
accidentally gotten someone else's car.
Startled that person,
someone called 911 and this all started.
Tough video to watch.
Alright, Steve, thanks.