By admin 
Two Rock Hill officers who shot and killed a 74-year-old man in Fort Mill in June were justified in using deadly force because the man had a tire iron pointed at them that had the appearance of a shotgun, according to York County’s top prosecutor.
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More, 16th Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett said in a letter to the State Law Enforcement Division that he believes Yves Joseph Venne “deliberately provoked law enforcement into shooting him” during an ongoing investigation into child sexual abuse material.
Venne died at his apartment the morning of June 2 on Sycamore Drive off Springfield Parkway. A task force of York County law enforcement from sex crime and drug units went to the apartment to serve a search warrant on Venne that day, Brackett said.
SLED, which was not part of the police team serving the warrant on June 2, was asked by the York County Sheriff and Rock Hill police to independently investigate the fatal shooting by the officers.
‘The distinct appearance of a shotgun barrel’
SLED released the day after the shooting that Venne was armed with a tire iron, but details about the forced entry and a review of the findings were not released until Brackett, the solicitor, sent the letter to SLED this week.
Venne refused lawful orders from police to open his door as officers were trying to serve the warrant, according to Brackett’s letter. Police used a battering ram to knock down the door, he said. Venne was then standing back from the door holding what appeared to be a shotgun, Brackett said.
Venne was “plainly seen brandishing what appeared to be a short barrel shotgun, shouldered and pointed at the officers in the doorway of the residence,” according to Brackett’s letter to SLED. “The hollow end of the tool that is typically used to loosen the lug nuts on a tire gives the distinct appearance of a shotgun barrel.”
The officers who fired at Venne were identified by Brackett and the Rock Hill Police Department Wednesday as Ian Graham and Justin McClurkin.
“Officers McClurkin and Graham reasonably feared for their lives in the face of this threat and fired their pistols in an effort to eliminate the threat posed to their lives, and the lives of other officers gathered at the door to assist with the service of the search warrant,” Brackett said in the letter to SLED.
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Police ‘provoked’ into shooting, prosecutor says
The Herald obtained copies of the search warrant signed by a judge on May 26 that showed deputies from the sheriff’s office Internet Crimes Against Children unit started investigating Venne in February after receiving a cybertip about downloaded photos of minor children.
Investigators connected the downloads to Venne through email and phone records that included a picture of Venne, according to the warrant. Deputies matched the picture of Venne with DMV records and also knew of him from two previous investigations, according to the search warrant.
The investigation after the shooting showed there were child sexual abuse materials found, Brackett said in the letter.
Brackett told SLED that the finding of sexual images,“supports my belief that, knowing that he (Venne) was about to be arrested and charged for this serious crime, he deliberately provoked law enforcement into shooting him rather than deal with the consequences,” Brackett told SLED in the letter. “In any event, their perception of a potentially fatal threat was reasonable, and their response was likewise reasonable.”
It is unclear how many officers witnessed the shooting. At least seven law enforcement officers witnessed the seizure of Venne’s electronics after the shooting on June 2, according to the search warrant.
Brackett told The Herald he reviewed the evidence SLED compiled, including police body camera footage. Police have not released that footage publicly.
Body camera footage in South Carolina is exempt from the state’s Freedom of Information Act law. Rock Hill police spokesman Lt. Michael Chavis said Wednesday the department is not releasing body camera footage from the June 2 incident.
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