Take Everything: Hampton, Virginia Man Files Federal Lawsuit After Being Shot 3 Times During Mental Health Crisis

Bossip
Video

Source:
Douglas
Sacha
/
Getty

Police
aren’t
equipped
to
handle
mentally
healthy
citizens
without
getting
trigger-happy
and
are
even

less
equipped
to
handle
those
with
special
needs
who
may
be
experiencing
behavioral
issues
stemming
from
a
disability.
Politicians
and
activists
have
talked
about
this
time
and
time
again
and
this
story
serves
as
another
sad
example
of
this
widely
ignored
truth.

According
to
a
report
by

WTKR,
a
34-year-old
man
named
Christopher
Clayton
Rice
has
filed
a
$20
million
federal
lawsuit
against
the
city
of
Hampton,
Virginia,
and
Officer
Bryan
Wilson
who
shot
him
3
times
in
the
chest,
arm,
and
thigh
while
he
was
in
the
throes
of
a

mental
health
crisis.
On
Jan.
22,
2022,
employees
at
Wynne
Ford
car
dealership
called
911
to
report
that
Rice,
who
had
visited
earlier
in
the
week
to
inquire
about
a
vehicle,
was
walking
around
the
building
with
a
baseball
bat.
When
a
female
officer
attempted
to
get
Rice
to
disarm
himself
of
the
bat,
a
struggle
ensued
and
she
was
hit
in
the
head
with
the
bat.

Officer
Bryan
Wilson
radioed
that
he
believed
that
Rice
was
suffering
from
mental
issues
but
no
mental
health
professional
was
called
to
help
de-escalate
the
tense
situation.
However,
Wilson
was
the
only
officer
on
the
scene
to
draw
his
service
pistol
after
his
female
colleague
was
struck
as
the
other
officers
on
the
scene
pulled
their
tasers
with
hopes
of
incapacitating
Rice
without
the
use
of
deadly
force.

Wilson
ultimately
fired
the
three
rounds
that
struck
Rice
and
ended
the
“standoff”.
Rice’s
attorneys
say
that
he
suffers
from
diagnosed
paranoid
schizophrenia
and
it
was
obvious
to
all
those
present
that
he
was
not
of
sound
mind
in
the
moment.

“The
simple
fact
is
that
Clayton
Rice
was
having
a
mental
health
crisis.
Everyone
could
see
it,”
one
of
his
attorneys,
Bakari
Sellers,
said.
“Even
Officer
Wilson
commented
on
it.
But
they
didn’t
send
a
doctor
or
medical
professionals.
They
sent
law
enforcement
with
their
weapons
drawn.
That’s
not
only
irresponsible.
It’s
a
recipe
for
disaster
and
Clayton
Rice
is
lucky
to
be
alive.”

Rice’s
lawsuit
accuses
Wilson
of
violating
the
Fourth
and
Fourteenth
Amendments
in
addition
to
gross
negligence
on
the
part
of
the
city.
We’ll
be
surprised
if
he
doesn’t
get
at
least
half
of
the
$20
million
in
a
settlement.

BOSSIP
will
have
more
information
as
it
becomes
available.

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