HAMPTON, Va. — A man shot by a Hampton police officer during a confrontation in 2022 has filed a $20 million federal lawsuit against the officer and the city, claiming civil rights violations and gross negligence.
The South Carolina-based Strom Law Firm announced the legal action on behalf of Christopher Clayton Rice on Tuesday, naming Hampton Police Officer Bryan Wilson and the City of Hampton in the lawsuit.
It comes more than two years after the shooting of Rice, 32, outside of the Wynne Ford dealership on West Mercury Boulevard, after he allegedly hit a police supervisor with a baseball bat.
Legal representatives claim the shooting happened while Rice was having a mental health crisis, with the lawsuit stating "Plaintiff suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and was not actively taking medication."
The incident unfolded on the morning of Jan. 4, 2022, when police responded to the dealership, where Rice was allegedly acting disorderly with a baseball bat outside. The employees locked the doors, moved out of eyesight, and called the police.
According to previous 13News Now coverage, then-Hampton Police Chief Mark Talbot said officers got to the dealership shortly after 11 a.m. and then called for a supervisor to help de-escalate the situation. Talbot said the supervisor was speaking calmly to Rice when he swung it and hit her in the head, prompting an officer to shoot him.
The shooting left Rice with life-threatening injuries, and the supervisor with less severe injuries.
The lawsuit claims that employees who called the police indicated to law enforcement that Rice wasn't threatening or aggressive; Wilson, during the police response, acknowledged over the radio that Rice appeared to have a mental health crisis, but no mental health professional was called in; and officers continued to pursue Rice around the dealership.
The suit goes on to say that the situation escalated when several officers drew their TASERs, while Wilson drew his gun and pointed it at Rice. The suit claims Rice was provoked to strike the supervisor when the supervisor "ultimately lunged towards him in an attempt to take the bat."
The lawsuit accuses Wilson of "unnecessary, excessive, and deadly force" used on Rice, and the City of Hampton for failures regarding use-of-force policies. Rice is seeking $20 million in compensatory damages.
After the shooting, Rice was charged with malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer and trespassing but was later found not guilty by reason of insanity in November 2023, according to online court records.
13News Now reached out to the Hampton Police Division for a comment on the lawsuit but didn't get a response by the time this article was published.