A Black man who fell asleep in his car parked in his grandmother’s driveway is now in a wheelchair after Indianapolis police officers shot him multiple times.
In the early morning of New Year’s Eve 2022, things took a turn in Anthony Maclin’s life after he slept in a rental car because his was in the shop, according to News One.
His grandmother, Vickie Driver, called the police to ensure her safety after she noticed an unknown car parked in her driveway.
Officers Carl Chandler, Lucas Riley and Alexander Gregory found her 24-year-old grandson sleeping with a gun on his lap when they arrived at the residence. To wake him up, they flickered their flashlights and tapped on the vehicle’s windows. Then, they fired multiple shots at him as he regained consciousness and started moving around.
Driver realized it was her grandson in a different car that he was using at the time because his vehicle was in the shop, and she immediately told the police. Before being taken to Methodist Hospital, where he underwent several surgeries to help him fight for his life, Maclin shared that he slept in his car because he didn’t want to wake up his family.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department released edited body camera footage of the moments that led up to the shooting, which has caused Maclin’s family to request all video footage be shared.
Maclin and his family don’t understand why other techniques weren’t used before the officers used their handguns. He now plans to sue the city, the police chief and the three officers involved for excessive force.
His attorney, Stephen Wagner, talked about the officers’ carelessness in firing at least 30 shots during their encounter in a statement released on Feb. 6.
“This police shooting was different than most you see in the news. Anthony is not accused of committing any crime. He was not drunk or high on drugs. While Anthony had a firearm in the car—and a license to carry the firearm—he never reached for the gun. He never had the gun in his hand, and he certainly did not point the gun at officers. In the end, Anthony’s only ‘offense’ was being a young black man in a high-crime neighborhood. This ‘shoot first and ask questions later’ approach to policing is illegal and cannot be tolerated,” Wagner said.
