HANOVER COUNTY, Va -- The Hanover County Sheriff's Office has released a new statement about what led to a deputy shooting a man after a domestic disturbance, and it contradicts the account that the man's family initially told CBS 6.
While Nathan Hamon's sister Jennifer said that her brother was in a mental health crisis at the time, and that's why she called 911 to their home, deputies said they were responding to reports of an active violent assault.
According to the sheriff's office, Hanover Emergency Communications received a 911 call on October 4, which Jennifer said came from her and her mother, to report that Hamon was out of control, hitting them with a baseball bat and kicking them.
The sheriff's office said the callers detailed physical assaults as screaming could be heard in the background. According to deputies, family members told dispatchers that Hamon claimed to have a gun; however, they did not actually see a gun.
Jennifer initially told CBS 6 in an interview on October 6 she specifically told dispatchers that Hamon did not have a gun.
She said she reported to dispatchers that her brother was "sick." She said he suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
"I explained to her that he's not well, he's not in his right state of mind. I said, I just don't want him to hurt himself," Jennifer Hamon told CBS 6. "The last thing that I said when I talked to the 911 dispatcher is that he just needs help. I need someone to come and help me so I can help him."
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However, the Hanover Sheriff's Office said that information was never relayed to them.
During that 911 call, the sheriff's office said no one stated that Hamon was in crisis, nor did they use the words "mental health." However, deputies said the callers did say that drug use was involved.
The call was coded as disturbance/nuisance/fight, which the sheriff's office said was the appropriate decision.
A deputy was then dispatched to the home on Shellie Lee Drive with information of an alleged assault, possible weapons, and possible drug use.
When a deputy arrived at the home, the sheriff's office said Hamon was in the driveway of the house. They said he was agitated, threatened to kill the deputy, and hid his arm behind his back.
During the encounter, deputies said Hamon then displayed a knife and began advancing toward the deputy.
After Hamon did not comply with the deputy's commands, the deputy first tried using a taser, but it did not stop Hamon.
The sheriff's office said Hamon continued advancing toward the deputy, and when he began running, that's when the deputy fired his gun three times. Two bullets struck Hamon.
Hamon's sister said the entire incident occurred over a matter of seconds.
“[The deputy] immediately got out of the car, and it was within 10 seconds that Nate was shot," Jennifer said. “I even think that if that cop would have just given me five minutes of his time to explain to him what my brother was feeling and going through, that wouldn't have happened. But I didn't get that chance, because they both just got up and started. It was immediate.”
Hamon survived the shooting, and he was treated on the scene, and then rushed to a hospital.
As CBS 6 previously reported, Hamon has now been charged with domestic assault and assaulting a law enforcement officer.
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The sheriff's office said it would not release the body camera footage or the 911 call recording until after the case has played out in court, citing them as evidence in an ongoing prosecution.
Sheriff David Hines said he fully supports the deputy's actions.
"He followed his training, and attempts to de-escalate failed, so he attempted a less lethal option. The deputy was forced to use legal and justifiable force to stop Mr. Hamon’s attack, then successfully provided life-saving care, which he learned through recent combat causality training. It is a tragedy when anyone is injured but the officer was left no choice, and that choice was made by Mr. Hamon," Hines said in a statement.
The Commonwealth's Attorney's Office is not pursuing charges against the deputy.
CBS 6 sent the sheriff's office's statement to Jennifer Hamon, and she maintains that her brother did not physically hurt her or her mother.
"I just need to hear [the 9-1-1 call] so I know what my mom said. But when I hung up with 911, Nate was outside, he never hit any of us and definitely didn’t come at us with a bat," Jennifer Hamon said after reading the Hanover Sheriff's Office statement. "He shoved my mom and was making threats but that’s it. They were told he was outside and we were inside safe and that he needed help. He was having a full-blown meltdown. The 911 dispatcher told me that she relayed what I said to her officers, which was that he was outside we were inside and that I just needed somebody here to help me get him help."
In an initial interview, Jennifer told CBS 6 she regrets calling 911.
“To live with the fact that I’m the one who had the cops come here, it’s unbearable. It is the most awful feeling in the world, because I thought I was getting my brother help," she said. “I just want to be able to see him and tell him how sorry I am, that I should’ve never ever called 911. I shouldn’t have. I should’ve handled the situation on my own.”
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
