On February 22, 2022, Richard Ward, 32, was fatally shot by Pueblo County Sheriff's deputy Charles McWhorter during an incident at Liberty Point International Middle School in Pueblo West, Colorado. Ward had arrived at the school with his mother, Kristy Ward, and her boyfriend, Tommy Brown, to pick up his brother. While outside for a smoke, he was observed attempting to enter a vehicle that was not his; school staff confronted him and told him to leave the premises.
Deputies were dispatched after a report described a "suspicious" individual in the parking lot who had become "aggressive" and was possibly "on something." According to the district attorney's Critical Incident Team (CIT) report, Ward explained to the deputies that he had mistaken the vehicle for his mother's white SUV and apologized to the driver. The tone of the encounter changed after Ward was asked for identification and whether he was armed; he said he might have a pocketknife and then appeared to put something in his mouth. Body camera footage, later released by the family's attorney, shows McWhorter asking what Ward had put in his mouth before forcibly removing him from the vehicle and taking him to the ground. A physical struggle followed involving McWhorter and a second deputy, Cassandra Gonzales, after which McWhorter fired his service weapon three times, fatally wounding Ward. Ward's mother can be heard on the footage asking whether her son had been shot; officers ordered her to remain in her seat.
McWhorter later said he believed Ward was reaching for his gun and stated that Ward had headbutted him and tried to grab his equipment. The CIT report found that Ward had not been carrying a weapon; an autopsy identified a prescription anti-anxiety pill in his pocket. In October 2022, 10th Judicial District Attorney J.E. Chostner ruled that the deputies' actions were "rational and justified," concluding they believed their lives or the lives of others were in jeopardy.
On February 17, 2023, the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office awarded McWhorter a Purple Heart for injuries to his forehead, fingers, back, knee, and neck sustained while attempting to subdue Ward. Four days later, on February 21, 2023, Ward's family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against McWhorter and the sheriff's agency, alleging improper use of force and challenging the arrest, property seizure, and interrogation of Ward's mother and her boyfriend. The family's attorney, Darold Killmer, said the family had not known of the award when the lawsuit was filed and characterized it as "a brazen act which mocks the very purpose of a Purple Heart." Ward's mother, Kristy Ward Stamp, said the loss had "broken" her heart, and Killmer described the killing as unwarranted.
On January 11, 2024, a federal judge declined to dismiss the lawsuit, stating that the county's repeated attempts to have the case dismissed were "improper." The case remains in civil litigation.
Credit: National Center for Missing and Exploited ChildrenEditorial useSourceOVERTURNEDListen
