Staff at Raleigh abortion clinic slam police after protester's shooting

Phillip Claiborne Todd, 50, was protesting at A Woman’s Choice of Raleigh, off Lake Boone Trail, along with about 15 others on Saturday morning when he accidentally shot himself in the leg with a handgun he was carrying, police said.

Todd was treated at a nearby hospital and was charged with possession of a firearm at a protest.

"Was he looking to shoot one of our staff, and he accidentally shot himself in the leg? We don’t know that," Amber Gavin, vice president of advocacy and operations at A Woman's Choice, said Monday.

After Todd was taken away by police and paramedics, the protest continued without him.

"They didn’t even look to see if anyone else in the crowd had a gun," Gavin said of police. "If this was a Black Lives Matter protest, folks would’ve been dispersed immediately."

"While RPD officers maintained a presence throughout the morning and afternoon, they had no information suggesting that anyone else present was connected to criminal activity or that any particular individual was armed and threatened safety," the Raleigh Police Department said in a statement.

The statement went on to say that officers interviewed several witnesses after the shooting and that the remaining protesters "were observed in prayer and other lawful activity."

"Police may issue orders to protesters to disperse when there is a clear and present danger of riot, disorder, interference with traffic or other immediate threat to public safety, which was not present," the statement concluded.

"If this was done at any other medical facility, I can’t imagine that the police would’ve allowed any other protesters to continue to protest and pray outside," Gavin said.

She also was irritated that police never provided the clinic with Todd's name, which they needed to seek a restraining order against him. WRAL News provided his name to her after police released it on Monday.