Why CMPD says it was justified in shooting at a man having a mental health crisis
Charlotte police say their officers were justified in shooting at a man who was suffering from a “mental health crisis” and cycling through four different personalities during a 30-hour SWAT standoff.
On March 11, 2023, Anh Thai, who was 32 at the time, stood in his front yard — a megaphone in hand — and threatened to kill his neighbors on Griers Fork Drive in Steele Creek, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
“We’re scared,” one neighbor told a dispatcher while requesting police.
Thai’s mother, who was inside when police arrived, later helped them negotiate with her son.
Thai was eventually helped by mental health professionals, but police first sent in more than four drones and a robot, launched chemicals, ripped off chunks of the two-story building and fired a bullet at Thai when he brandished a gun in the front doorway.
CMPD reviewed its own case
Officers with the CMPD’s Homicide Unit and Internal Affairs reviewed the case and determined their colleagues were justified in using deadly force, according to a critical briefing video by Lt. Kevin Pietrus. While other shootings by officers are routinely passed to the State Bureau of Investigation, the agency doesn’t investigate when the subject is not struck, said CMPD public information officer Michael Allinger.
Statutes governing police use of deadly force are largely open to interpretation, and state that force is justified when it “is or appears to be reasonably necessary.”
Suspect calls 911 after police shoot at him
In recordings released Monday, Thai is heard calling 911 after the bullet brushed past him. He tells the dispatcher he was shot, but officers later confirmed he was not.
“Where were you at?” the operator asked.
“I’m in heaven,” Thai responded. “I’m a ghost. Yeah. My name is Lucifer. I’m not real... I am a messenger of God... I saw police shoot an idiot fool holding his gun cocked back, pointing at them. Knowing damn well there is a sniper across the street.”
Officers and negotiators determined Thai was cycling through several personalities throughout the standoff. By the end, he referred to himself as Lucifer.
Police response to a mental health crisis
Police had responded to Thai’s home 46 times since September 2017, The Charlotte Observer previously reported. CMPD’s Community Policing Crisis Response Team had encountered him 13 times, Pietrus said.
Thai had an outstanding order for arrest because of previous threats. After the March standoff, he was given an involuntary commitment order and two more arrest warrants.
CMPD SWAT supervisor Sgt. Michael King said officers repeatedly broke down Thai’s front door and windows to reestablish contact with him. Overt actions, he said, help illicit a response from subjects such as Thai.
“The SWAT team doesn’t always just run in,” King said. “It’s not how we do things.”
Officers prefer to deescalate and pull subjects out on their own accord, he said. Thai damaged the robot and drones police sent in while negotiating. Police warned him not to come out with a gun, but Thai had a six-round revolver on him when police detained him outside his home.
When society doesn’t invest in mental health resources, people’s actions then become a community problem and, sometimes, a policing problem, CMPD Maj. Dave Johnson said in March.
