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Wrongful death lawsuit dropped against 2 Texas officers

On Behalf of | Apr 2, 2014 | Wrongful Death |

The wrongful death charges against to two Texas polices officers have been dropped. The grand jury on the case decided to drop the wrongful death charges after it was determined that what the police officers did in the heat of the moment that ended up killing a man was justified. They had shot the armed man to protect themselves and the community.

The incident happened when police officers responded to a 911 call about a man on a stolen motorcycle who was following a woman home. The police officers found the motorcycle later that night parked at a shopping center. They found the man, patted him down, found a knife and arrested him. However, they failed to find the pistol that was still in the man’s front pocket.

The man was handcuffed and placed in the backseat of the police SUV. As the police officers were driving the man to the police station, the man was able to move his handcuff hands from behind his back to the front. He then reached for his gun and shot out the back window of the SUV. As the man tried to escape the back window of the police car, the officers shot the man because he had pointed his gun at them. The man was taken to a nearby hospital and was pronounced dead.

An autopsy showed that there were drugs and methamphetamine in the man’s system during the shooting. The two Texas police officers were put on administrative leave after the incident, but they have recently returned to work. The family of the deceased man had originally filed a wrongful death lawsuit, but then they decided to drop the lawsuit. Losing a loved one by wrongful death is difficult. Texas courts can help families and victims of wrongful death seek justice.

Source: officer.com, “Grand Jury Clears Two Texas Police Officers in Fatal Shooting”, Melissa Repko, March 29, 2014

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