“If good tactics would have been used in the beginning, this probably wouldn’t result in a shooting,” use of force expert David Thomas told KHOU 11 News.
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — The Harris County Sheriff’s Office released body camera and surveillance footage Friday showing a tense encounter between a man and two deputies, which ultimately led to the shooting death of the man.
The incident occurred just after 3 a.m. on February 27. Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to a disturbance call that was reported at the Exxon gas station located at Interstate 45 North Freeway and West Road.
Someone called 911 and stated that a man was acting erratically and destroying the pumps at the gas station.
“This man is hitting the pumps, tearing the pumps up,” the 911 caller said. “Oh my god, he is just jacking the whole place up. Tearing up all the pumps.”
Surveillance cameras from the gas station show a man – identified by deputies as 36-year-old Levincer Swanson – ripping gas pumps out of their holders, as well as tearing apart several gas pumps.
Minutes later, two sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene. Body-worn cameras show that the deputies instructed Swanson to lay on the ground multiple times. But during this interaction, the sheriff’s office said Swanson became combative as they attempted to place handcuffs on him.
“Get on the ground or I’m going to tase you! Get on the ground!” yelled the male deputy, as the female deputy tried to handcuff Swanson. “Put your hands behind your back! Now! Get on your stomach! Get on your stomach now!”
However, as the female deputy continued to try and handcuff Swanson, video shows he kept resisting.
David Thomas, a forensic studies professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, is a use of force expert. Thomas said while the deputies responding to the incident first approached Swanson in the right manner, he added that they could have done more to initially gain control of the situation.
“The beginning is absolutely fine, where they roll up, they draw their firearms, they get him down on the ground,” Thomas said. “In all of my years teaching, I’ve never taught anybody to stand over somebody and apply handcuffs, because you don’t have control. So, what should have happened is that the officer applying, the deputy applying the handcuffs, the female, should have gotten down and put pressure on his shoulder and his arm, and there’s a way to lock the arm up so he can’t move, and with your body weight, it pretty much kind of prevents the person from rolling.”
Thomas said the deputies’ initial failure to handcuff Swanson is what led to the rest of the struggle.
The body camera footage shows the male deputy press his stun gun into Swanson’s back – what Thomas referred to as a “drive stun” – but at one point, Swanson is seen grabbing the stun gun, and then it falls to the ground. Thomas said the deputy should have deployed the stun gun from a distance.
“The better way, if you were going to do that, would be to disengage, meaning that you’re pulling away, and then him deploying the Taser, so that the barbs come out or the probes come out and they go into the body, so that would give him, that would prevent that person from grabbing,” Thomas said.
The body camera shows the female deputy yelling at Swanson to stop getting into a physical struggle with the male deputy.
“Let him go dude, I’m about to [expletive] shoot you. Let him [expletive] go. Let him go! Oh my god, I don’t want to [expletive] shoot him. Let him go,” the female deputy said.
But the female deputy then opens fire, shooting Swanson in the torso. The sheriff’s office said emergency responders took Swanson to an area hospital, where he died from his wounds.
Thomas said given the volatile nature of the incident, in the end, the deputies had no choice but to deploy lethal force. But he added that a more tactical approach to handcuffing Swanson upon the deputies’ initial approach could have prevented the situation from escalating.
“In this case, they had no choice. Unfortunately. It’s tragic, but they had no choice. If good tactics would have been used in the beginning, this probably wouldn’t result in a shooting,” Thomas said.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is conducting an independent investigation, which is standard when a deputy uses deadly force.
The Sheriff’s Office Internal Affairs Division is also conducting an administrative investigation. The results of the internal affairs investigation will be presented to the Sheriff’s Administrative Disciplinary Committee to determine if the deputies’ actions were in accordance with departmental policies and procedures.