Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 18, 1990 TAG: 9003182524
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C9 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium
Officer Edward Upchurch, who fired the fatal shot, now suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome, according to his attorney.
Aaron Wheeler, a local NAACP official, claims he lost his livelihood after he challenged the investigation of the shooting.
Fallout from the June 20, 1987 shooting is not over.
Upchurch's $2 million slander suit against Wheeler and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has not been heard in any court yet.
On Feb. 20, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. The U.S. Supreme Court justices without comment let stand a ruling that the suit must be tried in state rather than federal court. Upchurch's attorney, Kenneth Stolle, said late last week he planned to file the case in Virginia Beach Circuit Court within the next two weeks.
Five different investigations - three by the police department, one by the commonwealth's attorney, and one by the Federal Bureau of Investigation - cleared Upchurch of any wrongdoing.
Wheeler and the NAACP never agreed with the investigations.
The incident began with the questioning of two juveniles suspected of shoplifting. Upchurch, former sheriff's deputy who had been on the force for 1 1/2 years, and officer Audrey Turner placed the juveniles in their squad cars and returned the children to their parents.
During the scuffle, Upchurch twice pulled Fred Gilchrist, Maxine Gilchrist, 22-year-old brother, out of the fracas. The third time Upchurch, 25, grabbed Gilchrist, the man pushed Upchurch onto the trunk of a nearby parked car and pinned him there.
Upchurch told investiagtors he thought Gilchrist was trying to take his weapon. The officer grabbed for his weapon and it discharged, striking Gilchrist in the chest.
Witnesses told investigatos Gilchrist made no attempt to seize the officer's weapon.
Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Sciortino concluded the shooting was justifiable because Upchurch feared for his life.
In December 1987, Upchurch filed his suit against the NAACP and Wheeler asking for $2 million in punitive and compensatory damages. Upchurch has declined all requests for interviews.
Upchurch has declined all requests for interviews.
By March 1988, Wheeler's consulting firm was closed - a victim of what he called black-balling. National NAACP leaders rallied to support him, honoring him with a special award.
On the same day in February 1990 when the Supreme Court ruled on the NAACP challenge to move Upchruch's lawsuit to federal court, the officer again was in the news
. According to police, Upchurch, carrying a pistol, entered the apartment of his former girlfriend. When police were summoned by neighbors, the former girlfriend and a roommate came out, followed shorly by Upchurch. Police said the pistol was not loaded. Upchurch is currently suspended from the force and an investigation of that incident is still under way, according to Louis Thurston, a police spokesman.
by CNB