DaQuan Huey, a 17-year-old Texarkana resident reportedly blinded in his left eye after he was allegedly shot at close range by a Texarkana, Texas, police officer's JPX gun, will speak with the media today for the first time since the accident, an official said.
Huey's attorney, Philadelphia-based Lee Merritt, will demand the release of the name of the officer who shot Huey during the Jan. 27 incident. He will also ask that the Texarkana district attorney present the officer's case to a grand jury and that the charges against Huey be dropped.
"I have not yet received an investigative file from the police department concerning this case," Bowie County District Attorney Jerry Rochelle said. "It would be improper for me to comment on a pending case in any event."
Rochelle said he is happy to meet with members of Huey's legal team as scheduling allows and encouraged them to contact his office for an appointment.
According to Merritt, Huey was breaking up a fight when he was grabbed from behind by one of the officers and shot in the face at close range with a JPX gun. Merritt also noted that these guns are not meant to be used in close proximity to people. Projectiles launched from JPX guns can travel at speeds up to 450 mph, Merritt stated in a press release.
The force of the shot severely damaged Huey's left eye, Merritt said. According to Huey's doctors, he has permanently lost vision in his left eye. Doctors also say that the vision in his right eye is weakening and he'll need a special surgery in an attempt to save that eye.
According to an earlier TTPD press release of the accident, a man with a baseball bat was exchanging punches with a woman when police intervened near Brookwood Street and Belt Road where about 80 people were fighting in the street.
"After the crowd started to disperse, two officers were alerted to a man with a ball bat and a woman fighting in the alley and ran to their location," the TTPD release states. "As the man and woman were exchanging punches with each other, one officer grabbed the man around his chest and attempted to pull him away from the woman.
"The man resisted while the officer tried to hold on to him with one hand and keep the woman away by pointing his JPX pepper gun at her with the other hand. The man managed to turn toward the officer and began to come at him in an apparent effort to attack the officer. While still trying to control the man with one hand, the officer fired one shot from his JPX pepper gun. The officers were then able to take both into custody.
"The 17-year-old man was transported by ambulance to a local hospital, where he was treated for his injuries as a result of his involvement in the fights and the JPX deployment. Witnesses at the scene indicated that both the 17-year-old man and another man had been struck with a ball bat just before the officers arrived."