Former Summerville police officer Anthony DeLustro, 64, was arrested Wednesday, April 10, and charged with murder for fatally shooting Michael O’Neal, 39, of Pfafftown, North Carolina, while off duty on March 20 outside the Chick-fil-A on North Main Street.
After the shooting, the investigation was handled by the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED). During that time, which was nearly three weeks, videos of the altercation surfaced. Rumors swirled about how a verbal argument in a fast-food restaurant parking lot ended with one man dead and a former police officer facing 30 years to life in prison.
Summerville Police Chief Doug Wright had a press conference Thursday, April 11, to address the situation, the charges against DeLustro and the events detailed in the arrest warrant.
“The community has a right to know the facts of the case, and we realize this,” Wright said to open the press conference. “However, when SLED assumes an investigation, we at SPD are no longer privy to the findings as the investigation unfolds and have no influence whatsoever on the progress of the investigation.”
Wright said he became aware of the charges against DeLustro and the investigation results when the affidavit and arrest warrant were made public on April 10.
According to the affidavit, SLED investigators determined DeLustro was the aggressor in the argument with O’Neal. Eyewitness accounts detailed in the affidavit reveal O’Neal asked DeLustro several times, “Do you want to do this?” to which DeLustro responded, “Come on, you f------ f-----,” using the f-word followed by a derogatory term for a homosexual.
According to the affidavit, the two men then exchanged kicks and punches as bystanders attempted to separate them before DeLustro told O’Neal that he was under arrest and showed him his Summerville Police Department credentials. The fight continued, and DeLustro’s Springfield Armory XD handgun, which Wright confirmed during the press conference was not his department-issued weapon, fell from its holster and onto the ground behind DeLustro’s white Ford Edge SUV.
The affidavit then details an eyewitness hearing O’Neal saying he wanted to leave.
“Evidence showed that (O’Neal) then disengaged and retreated from the physical altercation with DeLustro and returned to his vehicle, a Hyundai Genesis, in an attempt to leave,” according to the affidavit. “An eyewitness, while restraining DeLustro, heard DeLustro tell (O’Neal) he would shoot him if he left.”
DeLustro then broke free from the bystander who was restraining him, ran to the rear of his vehicle, picked up the Springfield Armory XD handgun from the pavement and re-engaged (O’Neal) by approaching his car, according to the affidavit. DeLustro’s wife, Pilar, attempted to physically restrain O’Neal during the altercation and when he tried to get in his vehicle and leave, the affidavit shows.
During the press conference, Wright said he does not know if Ms. DeLustro will be charged for her role in the incident, but if she is, SLED will also file those charges.
According to the affidavit, DeLustro approached O’Neal’s car, opened the passenger door and entered the vehicle armed with his handgun and O’Neal told Delustro, “Get out of my car.”
As O’Neal began to drive away, DeLustro, while partially seated in the passenger seat of O’Neal’s car, fired the single shot that killed O’Neal.
According to the affidavit, DeLustro told law enforcement in an interview that he was aware O’Neal was trying to leave and that he was trying to stop him. He also said he never saw O’Neal with a firearm or any other weapon, and he never threatened to use “any sort of weapon.” DeLustro told investigators he approached O’Neal’s vehicle with his personal handgun to prevent him from leaving the scene.
The affidavit does not reveal why DeLustro told O’Neal he was being arrested.
“Eyewitness accounts, video evidence and (DeLustro’s) statement to law enforcement show that (O’Neal) retreated from the altercation before DeLustro confronted him with a firearm,” according to the affidavit. “A reasonable person could not have reasonably believed that the victim posed a threat of imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury to others because (O’Neal) was unarmed, walked away from the altercation and attempted to leave in his vehicle.”
According to the affidavit, DeLustro’s claims do not meet the element of self-defense.
“DeLustro claimed he used deadly force as (O’Neal) drove away because (O’Neal) refused to stop his vehicle, and DeLustro believed he could not get his legs out from beneath the moving vehicle,” according to the affidavit. “Eyewitness accounts and video evidence do not corroborate the claims DeLustro made after the incident that he was in fear for the community’s safety and for his wife’s safety.”
The affidavit ends with, “In that, the defendant Anthony DeLustro was in possession of a firearm and did kill (O’Neal) with malice aforethought, in that Anthony DeLustro shot and murdered the victim, Michael O’Neal.”
Wright said he will continue cooperating fully with SLED as it further investigates.
“There were some bad decisions made at that incident that day,” Wright said during the press conference. “A young man with his whole life ahead of him, Michael O’Neal, lost his life. Some life-changing decisions were made at that location during that conflict. The hearts of the Summerville Police Department and our staff go out to the O’Neal family and their friends. Certainly, their loss is devastating, and it’s not something we take lightly, either here at the police department or in this community.”
