MCPHERSON, Kan. — McPherson County Attorney David Page has ruled that the use of deadly force by a law enforcement officer in the death of 56-year-old Timothy Lloyd of Kanopolis was lawful and justified.
The KBI investigated the June 4, 2014 death of Lloyd, who was unarmed when police say he charged at an officer.
Authorities said when officers were called to investigate a hit-and-run accident in that city, the suspect vehicle was gone. Officers eventually found Lloyd. Police say he charged at one officer, who fired several shots. Lloyd was pronounced dead at a McPherson hospital.
Page says in his report that while McPherson Police officers were attempting to locate Lloyd, he concealed himself in a ditch within a tree row along the side of a gravel road. Upon being discovered by a McPherson Police Officer and being ordered to show his hands, Lloyd ignored the officer’s commands and instead, charged at the officer. That officer initially attempted to create distance between himself and Lloyd by quickly moving backward away from Lloyd. As Lloyd continued to charge at the officer, he was yelling for the officer to shoot him while at the same time reaching into and removing an item or items from his waistband which he then held with both hands and pointed at the officer.
Page says that officer reasonably believed Lloyd to be an imminent lethal threat. The officer fired at Lloyd to stop his attack, the commission of a forcible felony and to stop what Page called “the imminent threat to human life.”