Man uses racial slur, tries to run over security guard and gets shot in face
Cleveland OH Aug 5, 2023 A confrontation at a gas station on Cleveland’s West Side led a security guard to shoot a motorist in the face last week, authorities say.
The driver, who survived, and is now accused of using racial slurs and trying to run over the security officer with his car moments before the shooting.
David Lowe, 33, appeared Thursday in Cleveland Municipal Court on charges of felonious assault stemming from the July 28 incident in the city’s Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. He was released on a $10,000 bond, and his case was transferred to Cuyahoga Common Pleas Court.
The incident left Lowe blind in one eye, his lawyer, Justin Weatherly, said during Thursday’s hearing.
Lowe, who owns a concrete business, arrived at the gas station early that morning and acted aggressively toward security officers, according to witnesses who spoke to police.
Lowe, who is white, used a racial slur and called the officers names, according to a police report.
That’s when the security guards told Lowe he was no longer welcome at the gas station.
Lowe “shoulder-checked” an officer, climbed into his Dodge Challenger and appeared to reach for something inside, witnesses reported.
By now, one security officer was standing in front of the Challenger and another stood beside it, clutching a baton. They feared Lowe was reaching for a gun and told him to stop, one of the security officers told police. A gas station employee also heard the officers telling Lowe to stop reaching.
At some point, Lowe pressed the gas, police say.
The officer in front of the car, who apparently avoided a collision, fired two shots at the driver’s side window, he told police later.
Four witnesses — two additional guards, a gas station employee and a patron — told police that Lowe tried to hit the officer intentionally, according to the report.
There was “no doubt Lowe was trying to run (the officer) over,” the employee said.
In an interview with cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, Weatherly said Lowe should be exonerated for several reasons.
Lowe was not armed that day, and, unlike police, security guards lack authority to issue commands at motorists, he said. A guard’s job is to protect a facility, not follow a customer outside and, in this case, stand in front of his car and “pin him in,” Weatherly added.
“His job is to de-escalate,” the attorney said.
Weatherly also inferred from the police report that the security officer fired while standing to the side of the car, not in front, implying that he was not in imminent danger. (The police report says the officer “side stepped to the south” before drawing his weapon.) Weatherly said he is attempting to get surveillance video of the incident.
“My question is, Why isn’t the security officer being charged with attempted murder for shooting my client in face?” Weatherly said.
After the security officer fired his weapon, Lowe continued driving and hit a pole as he fled, police say. He suffered gunshot wounds to the eye and possibly the nose, and he was hit by shrapnel to the arm, the report stated.
Lowe was treated at Fairview Hospital. When police questioned him, he admitted he had been drinking, which he said “in a proud manner,” officers reported.
The security guard, who is licensed and affiliated with Patrol Services International of Ohio, appeared to be shaken up by the incident, police said.
