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Aderrien Murry: 5 Takeaways From Lawsuit Filed By Family Of 11-Year-old Shot By Mississippi. Cop

A federal lawsuit claims ‘reckless indifference’ in the shooting of the boy, which left him seriously injured.

The family of 11-year-old Aderrien Murry has filed a $5 million federal lawsuit against the city of Indianola, Miss.,the police chief and Officer Greg Capers, after Capers shot Murry in the chest during a police response to a domestic disturbance.  Despite surviving his injuries, Murry's family and protesters demand more action.

Here’s what we know from the lawsuit filed on Tuesday (May 31) on behalf of the Murry family in Mississippi:

  1.   According to the lawsuit, officer Capers responded to the disruption with his gun drawn, but “failed to assess the situation before displaying and-or discharging his firearm.” Nakala said officers initially showed up to the home banging on the door. Banging then transpired to an attempt to kick down the door. She says when this occurred, she opened up the door and saw guns drawn. Next, officers directed everyone to exit the home with their hands up. The father of her daughter ran out of the backside of the house, while she came out with her hands up. She informed the officers that there are children in the home. The officers then yelled for everyone to come out.

She describes looking in the house from outside and seeing her son come out with his hands up as Capers shot him in the chest.

3.      The lawsuit states that Aderrien was in shock and ran toward his mother asking, “why did they shoot me? “What did I do?” Nakala says her son thought it was a taser. The boy was airlifted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center where he was intubated and put on oxygen. He suffered a collapsed lung, lacerated liver and fractured ribs. He was released from the hospital four days later and is physically recovering from sustained injuries.

“There is no way a reasonably trained officer would have done what Greg Capers did — to shoot an unarmed 11-year-old,” Carlos Moore of the Cochran Firm said Tuesday (May 31) during a news conference. 

4.     The lawsuit states that officer Capers failed to fulfill his duties and the “ulterior purpose in misusing the legal process was to severely harm Plaintiffs while not executing their lawful duties to actually serve and protect Plaintiffs and other similarly situated individuals.” So far city officials have not acknowledged the lawsuit, which leaves out another side of the legal quarrel.

5.     The shooting is being examined by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. Moore has been pushing for the release of the body-cam footage, as he is confident the footage will show the wrongful actions of officer Capers. Murry’s family is calling for officer Capers to be charged and fired. In 2021, Capers was named Policeman of the Year in 2021. “If he’s your best, you need a clean house from top to bottom,” Moore said. “If that’s your best, I would hate to see the worst.”

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