Chief says officer was acting in self-defence and naming him could prompt ‘harassment’, but lawyer for Zachary Hammond’s parents disputes account

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A South Carolina police chief has said he will not release the name of an officer who fatally shot a 19-year-old man in the parking lot of a Hardee’s restaurant, insisting the officer acted in self-defence.

While the attorney for the parents of Zachary Hammond disputed the officer’s account, Seneca police chief John Covington reiterated on Friday that the department considered the officer a victim of attempted murder.

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“We feel that releasing his name may possibly subject the officer and family to harassment, intimidation or abuse,” Covington said in a written statement released to the media.

Hammond was shot twice at about 8.20pm last Sunday. According to a police report, he had driven a 23-year-old woman to the parking lot after an undercover officer arranged to buy marijuana from her. The woman was not injured. She was charged with simple possession of marijuana and released. A phone listing for her was out of service on Monday.

Covington has said the undercover officer pulled up beside Hammond’s car to buy the drugs, and the officer in uniform was coming up to help with any arrests when Hammond drove his car toward the officer.

But the attorney for Hammond’s parents, Eric Bland, contended that that explanation was false. He said a private autopsy, conducted on Thursday, showed Hammond was shot from behind, and that his car was not moving. He said Hammond was unarmed and was at Hardee’s on a date.

Bland is calling for the attorney general’s office to put the case before a statewide grand jury to investigate. Noting that both Hammond and the officer are white, Bland said Hammond’s death should be investigated with the same tenacity as cases that involve different races.

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A preliminary autopsy, released on Tuesday, showed the fatal shot hit Hammond in the upper torso. But Oconee County coroner Karl Addis has not specified from which direction the shots came.

Earlier this week, Covington said Hammond’s car came at an angle, so the shots were fired into the open, driver’s side window.

On Friday, he said he would not address the attorney’s “ongoing and unsupported statements” or say any more about the case until the state law enforcement division completed its investigation. The officer is on administrative leave.

“As attorneys are now involved for both the Hammonds and our department, we have released all of the information that we are able to at this time on the incident,” the chief said in his statement.