The mother of Jamarion Robinson, who was shot multiple times in his Georgia apartment, filed a lawsuit Wednesday against eight police officers who killed him, claiming they used excessive force and tampered with evidence.
According to the lawsuit, police went to 26-year-old Robinson’s apartment in August 2016 to serve him an arrest warrant and broke down his front door when their knocks weren’t answered. They proceeded to shoot inside the apartment with bullets even though there was no threat to them. Robinson was shot at least 59 times during the process. The officers knew that Robinson was schizophrenic, but didn’t fully investigate is mental health status and weren’t trained on how to arrest those with mental diseases.
The lawsuit claims officers shot bullets straight over Robinson’s body and used a flash bang grenade to complicate the crime scene. His family wants to know why police handcuffed and dragged him down from the second floor to the living room after they already shot him with so many bullets.
Andrew M. Stroth, an attorney representing Robinson’s mother, said he didn’t think Robinson shot at the police officers.
“We’re fighting to make sure the individual officers that made up the task force are held responsible for their unjustified and unconstitutional actions,” Stroth said. “In addition, we’re seeking reform of the policies and procedures of these departments. You’ve got a group of rogue officers unconstitutionally violating folks’ rights in Atlanta.”
Robinson’s mother, Monteria, said no one has taken responsibility for her son’s death. “Please do not ignore my plea because I am just another black mother suffering through what has become far too common in occurrence for black families here in this nation.”
Stroth said law enforcement hasn’t presented the family with information about what actually happened and the lawsuit lets them subpoena their documents.
The lawsuit demands substantial actual or compensatory damages for violating Robinson’s civil rights, punitive damages and attorney fees.
This isn’t the only time police officers have shot and killed someone with schizophrenia. In November 2016, Bradley King was shot inside his father’s home after his father contacted police over a schizophrenic episode.
His father, Matthew King, said the police officers should have been more aware of the situation they were responding to and violated his son’s rights.
“Absolutely he called for help and was wanting help,” he said. “He wasn’t suicidal, he wasn’t aggressive, he’s never been aggressive. Non-lethal force should be their first option, especially when they had all that non-lethal force.”
According to the lawsuit his father filed, the police officers weren’t properly trained on how to handle mental health problems. King hopes the lawsuit will cause the sheriff department to change their policies.
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