Autopsy Report Details Injuries to Anthony McClain in Police Shooting

An autopsy report details the injuries suffered by Anthony McClain, including one fatal gunshot wound to his “right lateral back,” and a second grazing wound to one of his shoulders.

The August 20 report obtained by Pasadena Now, which has not yet been formally released, includes diagrams that depict the location and trajectory of the fatal wound.

The bullet struck McClain, 32, of Pasadena, in the “right lateral back,” 22.5 inches from the top of his head and 5.5 inches to the right of midline, according to the report.

Investigators determined the 9mm bullet traveled through McClain’s body, piercing his right lung, and exited his chest 2.75 inches to the right of midline. The injury was described as “immediately life-threatening.”

A second grazing wound, described as a “superficial skin abrasion,” was also noted on McClain’s left shoulder. The report said no bullet was recovered in connection with the shoulder injury. 

 According to information obtained by Pasadena Now, paramedics were dispatched at 7:55 p.m. and arrived at the scene at 7:59 p.m. McClain arrived at Huntington Hospital at 8:10 p.m.

McClain was pronounced dead after undergoing emergency surgery in an attempt to save him.

The report includes assertions by an attorney representing McClain’s family members that an officer placed a knee in [McClain’s] back and handcuffed McClain, making no attempt to stop the bleeding or render first aid for 10 to 15 minutes following the shooting.

It also includes a narrative of the events that lead up to the shooting, of the shooting itself and the aftermath, supplied to the Coroner’s investigator by a Pasadena police detective. The autopsy reports that information was “preliminary and subject to change.”

Arriving Pasadena Fire Dept. paramedics reportedly encountered an alert McClain lying prone on the ground, with his hands cuffed behind his back.

McClain remained conscious while being taken to the hospital, the report stated.

“The decedent apparently was uncooperative and combative with efforts to initiate treatment and paramedics continued to struggle with the decedent throughout the transportation to the hospital,” according to the autopsy report.

The shooting stemmed from a traffic stop near La Pintoresca Park.

Both police and attorneys representing family members of McClain agree that he was a passenger in a car that was pulled over near La Pintoresca Park because it was missing a front license plate. McClain was asked to step out of the car.

But what happened next is the subject of dispute, even after the release of police video.

Police said officers spotted a handgun in McClain’s waistband as he ran before he pulled out the gun, raised it, and looked toward a pursuing officer, prompting Officer Edwin Dumaguindin to open fire.

McClain continued running about 50 yards, threw his gun across the street, and collapsed, police said. A .40-caliber, unserialized handgun was found at the scene.

But attorneys representing McClain’s family members in three separate legal claims against the Police Department and the city have maintained that McClain was never armed and that the gun police said they recovered at the scene was not his.

DNA analysis on the weapon was pending, officials said.

The report indicates toxicology screens were ordered. Coroner and police officials have said those results are still pending.