Grand jury clears Gulfport police in fatal shooting of homeless man at Dollar Tree
A Harrison County grand jury has cleared Gulfport police officers of any criminal wrongdoing in the Nov. 12, 2020, shooting death of a homeless man outside of the Dollar Tree on U.S. 49.
A partial grand jury report filed Monday summed up the findings in few sentences.
“After full and deliberate consideration of all the facts and circumstances leading up to the Nov. 12., 2020, shooting of Henry Lee Frankowski III, and the circumstances as they existed at the time of the shooting, the grand jury finds no criminal conduct on behalf of officers involved from the Gulfport Police Department,” the report said.
At least two Gulfport police officers took part in the the shooting that occurred outside the Dollar Tree on U.S. 49 and Pass Road.
Gulfport police did not identify the officers involved in the fatal shooting.
An ‘object’ or a ‘firearm’
Frankowski, 49 of Saucier, died of multiple gunshot wounds after he underwent surgery at a South Mississippi hospital, Harrison County Coroner Brian Switzer has said.
Gulfport police said they came into contact with Frankowski after responding to a report of a man, later identified as Frankowski, “abusing an animal and acting irate.”
Immediately after the shooting, Gulfport police said in a press release that Frankowski had “pointed a firearm at the officers,” and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said he was “brandishing a weapon.”
The incident report the Sun Herald obtained through a public records request only says Frankowski was holding an “object.”
The Sun Herald filed various public records requests to obtain information about the shooting.
Based on those reports, the Sun Herald learned Gulfport police had various run-ins with Frankowski prior to the shooting.
Witness says homeless man did nothing wrong
Since the shooting, the Sun Herald spoke to a witness who said she and her partner were sitting in a car outside the store when the shooting happened.
The witness, Vada Thrasher, said she and a friend had just picked up something to eat at Dairy Queen and stopped in the Dollar Tree parking lot to eat. They saw Frankowski with his dog outside the store, but never saw any weapon in his hand.
“We just happened to be parked right in front of where Henry was sitting, and we had been thinking about seeing if he needed anything for himself or his dog whenever we went inside,” Thrasher said. “I’ve ...wondered about the (store camera) footage because it would show that Henry wasn’t causing any kind of disturbance.”
At one point, Thrasher said, Frankowski’s dog barked at someone passing by him to go in the store, but she didn’t think the dog was acting overly aggressive and “just seemed excited.”
“That’s the most disturbance I witnessed, and after that he just moved the dog closer to him and was sitting there hugging her the rest of the time before the cops showed up,” Thrasher said.
