Pueblo County deputy sued for ‘excessive force’ received Purple Heart in connection to deadly shooting

PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KRD) -- The Pueblo County Deputy being sued in federal court for using excessive force in the fatal shooting of a 32-year-old man outside of a high school was recently awarded for injuries he sustained during the same incident. 

Tuesday, the family of Richard Ward filed a federal lawsuit against seven members of the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office and Pueblo County itself. The suit claims deputies used an excessive amount of force when Ward was fatally shot three times in the parking lot of Liberty Point Int. School in Pueblo West on Feb. 22, 2022. 

Days before the filing of the federal lawsuit, Pueblo County Deputy Charles McWhorter, the man who shot Ward, was awarded a Purple Heart Award.

A spokesperson for the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office confirmed with 13 Investigates the injuries he sustained during the Feb. 22 incident. 

After the shooting, Deputy McWhorter was taken to Parkview Medical Center to be treated for injuries. According to the Tenth Judicial District Attorney’s Office, the deputy had an injury to his face at the bridge of his nose, his right forefinger, his lower back, and his right knee, and he reaggravated a previous injury to the middle of his neck.

According to the Ward family, Richard Ward was waiting to pick up his brother, sitting in the back seat of his family's SUV. The Ward family's attorneys said he got out to stretch his legs and smoke a cigarette. When he returned, they say he accidentally got into another person's car. Someone called 911 on Ward. When deputies - including McWhorter - arrived on the scene Ward was in the backseat of his mother's SUV.

In the body cam video, McWhorter touches Ward's arm and asks him why he's acting strange. Ward responds by saying that cops make him "nervous" and he "has anxiety".

Ward explains to the deputies that he had bad encounters with police in Pueblo before. McWhorter then asks for Ward's ID and as he reaches for his identification, Ward slips something in his mouth. His family attorneys said Ward had been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and was prescribed medicine for it.

In the body cam video, McWhorter then demands to know what it is and drags Ward to the floor. McWhorter struggles with Ward on the ground for around 20 seconds. During this time, deputies told him to "stop resisting" multiple times.

McWhorter then shot Ward 3-times. Ward was unarmed.

The body cam footage shows both deputies on the scene did not provide medical aid to Ward for nearly three minutes. He died on the scene.

After the incident, McWhorter told investigators with the Tenth Judicial District Attorney’s Critical Incident Team that Richard got on top of him, and he felt the suspect “messing with his gun side.” 

McWhorter told investigators that Ward head-butted him, and he was "seeing stars." 

“Deputy McWhorter was in fear that Richard was going to get his gun or knock him out, Deputy McWhorter said he was in fear his neck was going to give out on him,” the Deputy told the CIT team. “He said the doctors told him he was close to being paralyzed if he takes a serious blow to his neck. Deputy McWhorter said he felt like he needed to stop the threat that was in front of him. He was able to get back and draw his weapon.” 

All deputies were cleared and the shooting was deemed justified last year by the Tenth Judicial District Attorney. 

In his conclusion, District Attorney Jeff Chostner said the actions by deputies were justified due to the "belief that their lives and the lives of fellow deputies were in jeopardy."

McWhorter remains an active patrol deputy in Pueblo County according to a spokesperson with the Sheriff’s Office. 

13 Investigates asked the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office why they felt it was appropriate for McWhorter to receive the Purple Heart award for his injuries sustained in connection to the deadly shooting of an unarmed man. The sheriff's office declined to comment due to pending litigation.

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