Austin Police Shooting Lawsuit

Attorneys for an Austin family have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against an Austin police officer and the City of Austin, alleging that racial discrimination and excessive force lead to a May 11 shooting in which a sleeping 18 year-old African-American youth was reportedly taken from a car and fatally shot.  See, Plohetski, Tony, “Sanders Family Sues Over Fatal Police Shooting,” Austin American-Statesman, 6/3/09, http://www.statesman.com .  According to the article, police have said that the officer had been investigating whether a Mercedes-Benz station wagon in which the youth was sleeping was linked to gunfire at an East Austin apartment complex when the officer fired after the youth allegedly reached for a weapon.  However, the civil rights lawsuit charges that the officer detained the driver at Walnut Creek Apartments, returned to the vehicle where the youth was sleeping, opened the backdoor, attempted to drag the sleeping teenager out of the car, overreacted, pulled out his gun and repeatedly shot the youth in the head and body.  In addition, the lawsuit claims that the City had practices in place at the time of the shooting that contributed to the alleged civil rights violation, including inadequate supervision of officers concerning use of force, the use of excessive deadly force against minorities and inadequate training of officers on how to approach sleeping subjects.

Whether allegedly unlawful police shootings or police abuse and discrimination occurs in Abilene, Amarillo, Austin or elsewhere, victims of police misconduct may make internal complaints to the officer’s employer and contact federal law enforcement agencies such as the Department of Justice, as well as an attorney or lawyer to determine if charges and an excessive force lawsuit may ultimately be appropriate under the particular facts and circumstances of the potential civil rights violation claim.