The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office announced Friday it had secured indictments against two Capitol Police officers involved in an August 2022 shooting that left a woman critically injured with a partially paralyzed face.
Michael Rhinewalt, who is still a Capitol Police officer, and former officer Jeffery Walker were charged with aggravated assault in the shooting, NBC News reported. The indictment says the officers shot Sherita Harris, a passenger in a vehicle they were chasing, “under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.”
Rhinewalt and Walker say that they opened fire during the chase because the driver of the car, Sinatra Jordan, fired at them. Jordan, however, denies that he fired any shots, and no gun was found in the car.
Jordan remains behind bars anyway, awaiting trial on charges of fleeing and aggravated assault on police officers.
Both Rhinewalt and Walker were new hires for Capitol Police, part of the state’s move to exert more control over policing in Jackson. Rhinewalt was place on unpaid leave after the indictments were handed down, pending an internal hearing.
Walker left the force in July 2023. He also faces federal civil right charges for allegedly beating an arrestee a month before the shooting. That trial is now in limbo since the new administration has ordered a freeze on prosecuting civil rights cases, which was the reason behind the establishment of the Justice Department in 1870.
The two officers described the incident as a rolling gun battle through downtown Jackson that began with an attempted traffic stop. Jordan fired at them first, they said, and they saw him throwing items out of the car. No items were found that were thrown from the car, and their patrol car was not hit by any bullets.
Jordan disputes almost every description of the incident from the officers.
While they found no gun in the car, they found Harris, a mother of five, badly injured. She has required multiple surgeries to repair the damage to her head and face and told NBC she struggles to chew food. She said she has a caregiver who helps.
“It’s been so long, I thought they forgot and were going to sweep it under the rug,” Harris, 40, said. “It brings me a little joy.”
Harris has filed a $3 million lawsuit against Mississippi authorities.
“I’m just shocked and surprised the AG’s office took the initiative and they are indicting the officers,” her attorney, Justin Smith, told NBC.
The shooting of Harris did lead to changes in Capitol Police protocols. Neither Rhinewalt nor Walker were wearing body cameras at the time, but all Capitol Police officers now do so. The state Department of Public Safety has also established an internal affairs division to independently handle complaints against officers.
