No charges in shooting
District attorney will pursue no criminal charges against officer who fatally shot a man in a June 2019 incident.
The Collierville police officer who fatally shot a man in June 2019 will face no criminal charges, Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich’s office said Tuesday.
David Hoal, 59, was killed after police responded to his Valleywood Cove residence. Hoal’s wife had alerted police that her husband was distraught, armed with a handgun, and threatening suicide. Hoal was in his backyard when police responded. Collierville police said he had one finger on the gun’s trigger, and was holding the firearm in a “low-ready” position — down at his side, but an angle.
According to Weirich’s office, Hoal repeatedly ignored officer commands to drop his gun. The officer, identified in a lawsuit as Austin Waguespack, said he feared for the life of Hoal’s wife and other officers present.
“Officers are not required to wait until they or others are shot at by an armed suspect,” wrote Weirich. “In this case, Mrs. Hoal was ‘in close proximity’ to her husband and could have been shot in a split second if he had chosen to do so. Instead, the officer made an on-thespot decision to fire first when Hoal refused to drop his weapon.”
In July, Hoal’s wife filed a lawsuit against the Collierville Police Department, the town, and Waguespack.
The suit alleges Hoal’s civil rights were violated when CPD sent “a team of officers in full tactical gear with AR-15 assault rifles” rather than officers trained to deescalate the situation and help David Hoal, who was in distress.
Before Hoal’s death, Collierville police had responded to his house on June 2, 2019. That evening, Hoal’s wife was fearful he would try to harm himself, according to the suit.
Police responded to that incident as well, but the suit said officers were trained in crisis intervention techniques and capable of diffusing a situation brought on by mental distress.
When officers approached the Hoal residence on June 3, they “did not activate a siren or lights when they arrived, but rather engaged in a tactical maneuver to approach Mr.hoal in a covert manner without alerting him that they were even law enforcement officers,” according to the suit.
Officers formed a perimeter around Hoal’s backyard.
The suit alleges five seconds passed between the time Waguespack told David Hoal to drop his weapon and the moment Waguespack fired a single shot, which struck Hoal in the heart.
Hoal, the suit said, “never raised his gun or took any aggressive action towards anyone while officers were present.” Instead, the suit claims, David Hoal turned towards the sound of an officer yelling and was immediately shot.
The suit alleges Hoal’s life would have been spared if the police gave an adequate warning they were about to use lethal force.
Micaela Watts is a breaking news reporter for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at micaela.watts@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter at @megawatts2000.