By Andrew Chung

NEW YORK (Reuters), David Collie, a Fort Worth man who was shot in the back by police and left paralysed, died today at the age of 38.

In the meantime, an autopsy has yet to be performed. Accordingly to Tarrant County Medical Examiners, no cause of death was determined.

Collie, paralyzed down to the waist after 2016’s shooting, suffered from infections, pressure wounds, and post-traumatic stress disorder. He also experienced bouts of severe depressive episodes. Pamela McCloud McCloud claimed that Collie’s health had deteriorated and that he refused treatment and almost stopped eating in the last weeks.

David said that he was tired and couldn’t bear to go through the process any more. McCloud agreed.

Collie’s shooting and subsequent lawsuit against the police were detailed in “Shielded,” a multipart Reuters series https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-police-immunity-variations that revealed how qualified immunity, created 50 years ago by the U.S. Supreme Court, has made it increasingly difficult to hold police accountable when they kill or seriously injure people. This doctrine was created to shield government workers from civil suits.

The Reuters series, which won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting, has been cited often in calls to abolish or restrict qualified immunity after the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and incidents like it prompted widespread demands for reform to reduce police violence against Black people.

Collie’s 2016 confrontation with police was reminiscent of other recent cases which have fuelled protests for reforms in policing and race justice. Collie’s case highlighted the key finding of the Reuters investigation, that qualified immunity has been made nearly indestructible by a number of Supreme Court decisions for police officers who use violence to protect their rights.

Collie, a Black man, was strolling across Fort Worth’s parking lot on a summer evening to visit his friends. Two Black men were being sought by police for a robbery in which tennis shoes were involved.

Collie continued his walkaway as officers shouted orders at him. Later, Collie said that he pulled out his pocket from the pocket of his jacket to point to where he was heading. This was the moment Hugo Barron, officer Hugo Barron, shot Collie in his back. It punctured his lung and tore his spine.

Later, Barron said that he believed Collie was looking for a gun. Collie didn’t have a gun, and did not participate in the robbery.

Collie’s paralysis ended his job, and he was unable to resume his college plans. Barron wasn’t disciplined nor charged with any wrongdoing. Collie filed a federal suit against Barron, accusing him of using excessive force. It is a civil right violation according to the U.S. Constitution.

Barron claimed that he had qualified immunity as the force used by him was reasonable given the immediate threat. A federal judge was appointed to hear the case. Federal appellate court upheld the ruling of the lower court and said Collie was “in a wrong place at the wrong moment.” Collie’s case was closed.

Fort Worth Police Department refused to comment on Collie’s death. Barron is still a police officer in the Fort Worth Police Department.