Families sue Indianapolis after 2 police shooting deaths
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis city government is facing lawsuits from two families over separate incidents that left two men dead during traffic stops.
On Oct. 23, 2023, Darcel Edwards was shot after climbing into a tree. Edwards had run from police after being pulled over near 25th Street and Columbia Avenue.
His mother, Roselyn Edwards Rogers, said Thursday she misses her son every day. “He had a beautiful smile. He was a lovely father and a son.”
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department says Edwards put his hand in his pocket as officers asked him to come down from the tree.
Attorney Nathaniel Lee said Thursday that Edwards mental health issues when he encountered the police in 2023. “One of telltale sign was he said, ‘Call my mama!’ You’re not going to shoot someone who wants their mom to come to the scene.”
IMPD says Officer Gunnar Gossett fired because Edwards put his hands where the policeman couldn’t see them.
Lee is frustrated with how investigators handled the case. “Shortly after they killed the gentleman, they came out, cut the tree down and shredded the tree.”
On Nov. 17, 2023, Leandre Houston was shot by IMPD Officer Mitchell Farnsley. Houston was a passenger in the car driven by Demarcus Whitley.
Whitley was wanted on several firearms charges. Whitley surrendered but Houston ran from officers and was shot after leaping a fence.
Lee says the officer didn’t need to shoot Houston. “He’s behind the fence at the time, and his body camera was obscured by the fence, which tells you he’s not in danger of being shot.”
IMPD Police Chief Chris Bailey said several times that suspects make the officers jobs more difficult when they run from them.
But, Lee said, general distrust of police, especially in the African American communities, caused these men to fear for their lives. “We must have a standard where you can only shoot a suspect when your life is in danger, or someone else. That’s got to be the legal standard we adhere to, without that standard no one is safe.”
IMPD said it cannot comment on this case while it is pending in court.
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