A mentally ill man was tasered and then shot dead by a NYPD cop, and now, the dead man’s family has filed a $20,000,000 lawsuit against the city. The family is concerned with the police lack of training in dealing with mentally ill people that lead to the unnecessary death.
“This wrongful death is particularly troubling when the officer who shot and killed this mentally ill victim was the only one of four officers responding without special training in dealing with the mentally ill and had shot an emotionally disturbed person prior to this occurrence,” said Sanford Rubenstein, the attorney for Dwayne Jeune’s family.
Jeune’s mother, Dulcina Jeune, had called 911 on July 31 when her son was behaving erratic. She allowed Officers Miguel Gonzalez, Adam Gierlachowski and others inside their Flatbush Gardens building on New York Ave, reported NY Daily News.
Dwayne Jeune was allegedly armed with a kitchen knife and ran toward Gierlachowski, who fired the Taser, which was ineffective.
Rodriguez, a five-year veteran, then fired 5 rounds, hitting Jeune in the chest and killing him.
The 32-year-old had been diagnosed with schizophrenia almost a decade ago. He had a previous psychiatric episode and was known by the local precinct, said Charlyn Thomas, a cousin and spokeswoman for the Jeune family.
“No parent should have to call for help and watch their child being killed. The officer was so reckless shooting through the wall and could have hurt my aunt and a neighbor,” Thomas told the Daily News.
Source: http://countercurrentnews.info