Father fatally shoots himself while in Kings Mountain NC police custody
KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C. March 3 2018 – A man in police custody being booked at the headquarters in Kings Mountain pulled out a gun and fatally shot himself in the head, officials said.
John White Jr., a father of a 9-year-old, was arrested Saturday morning after drugs were found in his car.
Officials said he was not handcuffed or searched well. While in the custody of Officer Jonathan Price, White shot himself, his attorney said.
White was pronounced brain dead days after the shooting. His family kept him alive long enough to have his organs donated.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is investigating why officers let a convicted felon into the police department with a loaded gun.
Kings Mountain Police Chief Jerry Tessneer sent a statement saying, “The Kings Mountain Police Department is saddened to report an in-custody self-inflicted gunshot occurred.”
White’s family is also questioning authorities to find out if officers followed proper procedures.
“There was a serious egregious breakdown of protocol,” Ronnie Ingle, the family’s attorney, said.
White had previously spent six years in a federal prison on drug charges.
“Had made it very clear to his family that he would never go back to prison even if it meant taking his own life,” Ingle said.
White sent his wife a text message prior to the incident.
“Something along the line of he loved her no matter what happened,” Ingle said.
Ingle said a basic pat down is standard procedure for every police officer transporting a suspect, and that didn’t happen in this case.
Ingle plans to file a wrongful death suit against the Police Department and Officer Price.
WSOC-TV
