A 37-year-old police officer in Pennsylvania has been indicted by a grand jury for allegedly killing a 48-year-old “good Samaritan” who was attempting to help a shooting victim in a Walmart parking lot last year. Center Township Police Officer John J. Hawk, who was off-duty and dressed in plain clothes at the time of the incident, has been charged with one count each of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment, and perjury in the death of Kenneth Vinyard, authorities announced.
According to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, Vinyard on the night of Nov. 6, 2022, was in the parking lot of a Beaver County Walmart when an individual was shot and the scene became “chaotic.” With the shooter still on the loose, Vinyard “made attempts to show a responding officer something on his telephone that he believed would assist them with the capture of the shooter.”
Kenneth Vinyard (via GoFundMe) and the scene where he was allegedly killed by off-duty police officer John J. Hawk (via KDKA/YouTube screenshot).
When Vinyard then interrupted an officer who was speaking to another witness, prosecutors say Hawk placed his hand on Vinyard’s arm and began to physically move him away.
“Vinyard disengaged from Hawk and told Hawk words to the effect of ‘take your hands off me’ but otherwise continued to move backward,” prosecutors wrote in the criminal complaint. “Vinyard did not act aggressively toward Hawk, not make any contact with him. Nevertheless, a few seconds later while the men were standing next to each other, Hawk struck Vinyard in the chest area and simultaneously executed a leg sweep technique which forced Vinyard to fall to the asphalt parking lot and hit his head, He died upon arrival at the hospital.”
A forensic pathologist with the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Vinyard died as a result of “cardiovascular disease and that the blunt force trauma and accompanying stress inflicted by Hawk contributed to his demise.”
Prosecutors say that at the time of the incident, Hawk did not announce himself as a police officer, did not display any law enforcement credentials, and was not heard or seen announcing that Vinyard was being placed under arrest. Additionally, as an off-duty officer in plain clothes, Hawk was not authorized to arrest anyone under the department’s procedural policies.
During the subsequent investigation, Hawk allegedly was untruthful when he appeared to testify before the grand jury about the incident.
Hawk testified that after the shooting, he told “multiple people, multiple times” that he was a police officer, a version of events prosecutors say “is plainly contradicted by the accounts of the witnesses and the video footage” from the scene.
Court documents state that Hawk told the grand jury that Vinyard had provided false information to police and had been asked to leave the area, but later conceded that Vinyard had just been instructed to “stop talking.” Hawk also allegedly acknowledged that he told another officer at the scene to “turn off his camera,” per the complaint.
“This sworn officer’s actions caused the death of a man who did not present a threat of any kind on the day in question,” Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a statement. “Law enforcement officers take an oath to protect and serve, and a badge does not permit any officer to break the laws they are trusted to uphold. My office will hold public officials accountable when they step out of line and harm citizens of the Commonwealth.”
Blaine Jones, Hawk’s defense attorney, spoke to Pittsburgh CBS affiliate KDKA about the indictment, saying both he and his client were surprised by the news.
“He’s shocked,” Jones reportedly told the station. “He’s disappointed. He doesn’t feel as though he was doing anything that evening besides helping his colleagues in law enforcement with respect to someone who was not obeying orders.”
Hawk was arraigned on Wednesday and his bond was set at $200,000. He is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 10.
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