FAIRFIELD, Ohio — A federal appeals court has revived a wrongful death claim against Walmart by the family of a Fairfield man who was fatally shot by a police officer inside the store while holding what was later determined to be a fake gun.
In August 2014, 22-year-old John Crawford III took a BB/pellet gun off a shelf in Walmart. Someone in the store saw him and called 911 to report that a man was pointing a gun at customers. A short time later, police charged into the store. Surveillance video shows that Beavercreek Police Officer Sean Williams shot and killed Crawford.
A judge previously dismissed the Crawford family’s wrongful death claim, but a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed that in a 2-1 decision in late November 2022.
Two judges concluded “a reasonable jury could find that Walmart failed to prevent Crawford from carrying a look-alike AR-15 openly around the store,” which could alarm shoppers, confuse police and cause an officer to respond as though the weapon were real.
The decision means the family can proceed toward trial on the wrongful death claim along with its other pending claims against the retailer, including negligence, one of the family's attorneys, Michael Wright said Friday.
Walmart has not responded to the Journal News' request for comment.
The family previously settled a wrongful death claim with Beavercreek and its police.
A grand jury declined to indict the officer who shot Crawford.
A special prosecutor from Hamilton County, Mark Piepmeier, did not press state charges against Williams. Piepmeier said a Greene County grand jury in Xenia had considered charges of murder, reckless homicide and negligent homicide, but they found Williams' actions were "justified."
Federal officials said their career investigators and prosecutors reviewed all available video from the Crawford shooting as well as investigative reports by the Beavercreek Police Department and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation; forensic evidence reports; the autopsy report, photographs of the crime scene, toxicology reports and EMS reports.
“Prosecutors also obtained assistance from an independent crime scene reconstruction expert to aid in understanding the exact perspectives held by the officers who confronted Mr. Crawford,” the release said. “In addition, the FBI conducted its own interviews of relevant witnesses, including interviews with personnel at the Beavercreek Police Department who were responsible for training officer Williams.”
The 911 caller who reported that a man was waving a gun in the store also wasn’t charged. The prosecutor who made that decision said he didn’t find evidence that the caller knew the information he provided was false.
