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Mother files suit after Houston police shoot, kill unarmed son

On Behalf of | Feb 15, 2013 | Wrongful Death |

It’s important to remember when filing a lawsuit against a party who was negligent in causing injury or death that there could be more entities that are liable. In the case of a truck accident, you may not just file suit against the driver, but the trucking company for not providing the proper training. This is the case of one woman, who is suing the city of Houston for the shooting death of her son at the hands of a city police officer.

The 24-year-old man was shot on Christmas 2011 by a Houston police officer after the man got in a serious car accident. According to the wrongful death lawsuit recently filed in federal court, the man was unarmed and should not have been shot by the police officer with “excessively deadly force” for any reason.

  – Article By Richard Weaver

According to the lawsuit, the man got into a serious accident that saw his car hitting a tree and ending up in a ditch. The bloodied man, who managed to get out of his car, was walking toward a streetlight when the officer, who was on his way to another call, stopped.

The officer reportedly shot the man four times, striking him in the thigh, chest and neck. The man died from his wounds the next day. The lawsuit alleges that while the officer reported the shooting and alerted an ambulance, he didn’t offer any help once he realized his mistake.

Sometimes it’s easy to see why a police officer may mistake someone as a threat. But is it necessary to shoot an unarmed man who was clearly bleeding and woozy four times? It’s alleged that the officer fired at close range. Shouldn’t he have seen that the man was hurt and needed help? Perhaps if the police department trained the man better this tragedy never would have occurred.

Source: Southeast Texas Record, “Arkansas woman sues city of Houston after police officer allegedly shot her son,” John Suayan, Feb. 13, 2013

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