A man who performed CPR on a shooting victim ended up dead after a plain-clothed police officer shoved him to the ground, according to the family’s lawyer.
Kenneth Vineyard was outside of a Walmart in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, when he saw a man laying on the ground with a gunshot wound in the abdomen. Vineyard performed CPR on the man until paramedics arrived and then stepped back to let them take over.
According to Joel Sansone, a lawyer representing Vineyard’s family, Vineyard was standing nearby when a plain-clothed man approached him. The man did not identify himself but told Vineyard to step back. When Vineyard told him he was trying to help and needed to reach his nearby fiance, the man “violently” shoved Vineyard who fell and hit his head on the pavement.
Despite the efforts of his fiance and paramedics to treat him, Vineyard had no pulse at the scene and was pronounced dead at a Beaver County Hospital a short time later.
Sansone says the plain-clothed man is a police officer employed by the Center Township Police Department.
“We want the name of the individual who caused this death and we intend to sue him and possibly others,” Sansone said.
The shooting occurred around 6:30 p.m. local time on Sunday. The shooting victim, Rashaun Smith, was flown to a nearby hospital by a medical helicopter. Recent reports indicate that he remains there and there has been no update about his condition. The alleged shooter, Teshua Bratcher, was found hiding in an adjacent neighborhood. He has been charged with nine crimes, including criminal homicide.
Sansone says that witnesses, including his fiance, saw Vineyard being shoved. He also says video footage of the incident proves Vineyard was shoved to the ground.
State police confirmed to local media that they are investigating Vineyard’s death. Officials plan to talk to the officer who allegedly shoved Vineyard as early as Wednesday.
The Center Township Police remain in charge of the shooting investigation.
In August, the Center Township Police found themselves in the headlines after a handcuffed man died from a gunshot wound in the back seat of a police cruiser. Police say the man shot himself, but have not explained how he got a gun into the vehicle after being disarmed, or how he used it while handcuffed. State police are also investigating that incident.