Family Sues Aurora Police Officer in Fatal Parking Lot Shooting of Son
The attorneys representing the family of Rashaud Johnson are suing Brandon Mills, an Aurora Police Officer, who allegedly shot and killed their unarmed son at an off-site Denver International Parking lot on May 12. According to CBS News Colorado, the wrongful death lawsuit was filed by the Rathod | Mohamedbhai LLC law firm on behalf of the family, claiming Johnson was experiencing “a mental health crisis at the time the officer shot him.”
As outlined by Todd Chamberlain, Aurora Police Chief, “Johnson attacked Mills after police were called to the parking lot for reports of a suspicious person who parking lot employees thought was trying to break into cars.”
A press conference was held on Tuesday, August 5, with Johnson’s family and attorneys representing Rashaud Johnson’s family, who said there were two reasons why they filed the lawsuit, as reported by Denver7.
“Undoubtedly, there’s two failures here. One is the team responsible for dispatching the officers, which could have, instead of sending a single officer, sent somebody who is trained as a mental health professional or a team of officers who better be able to respond,” says Sandhu. “It’s certainly on Officer Mills’s shoulders too because he decided to shoot and kill Rashaud despite the fact that he posed no imminent threat of serious bodily injury.”
When showing body camera video from the incident, Todd Chamberlain, Aurora Police Chief, explains in a press conference that he believes there was a threat to Officer Mills’ life despite Johnson not having a weapon, as reported by Denver7.
“I think the important part is that the absence of a weapon does not mean that there’s an absence of danger, by any stretch of the imagination, and there’s still a deadly threat, and that deadly threat continued to unfold in this event,” says Chief Chamberlain.
Johnson was a comedian and performed in various comedy clubs around the Denver Metro area, as reported by CBS News Colorado.
The family also claims autopsy report provided by Johnson’s family’s attorneys only showed cannabinoids in his urine and Delta-9 THC in his blood, no other drugs or substances, and that he had no record of violent criminal history.
