JACKSON, Mississippi — A woman who says Mississippi Capitol Police shot her while she was lying in bed sued the agency Tuesday, accusing its commanders and officers of acting recklessly and using excessive and unreasonable force against her. .
He lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, is the second civil complaint in less than a week to focus on the Capitol Police. On Friday, the NAACP filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the state’s plan to expand the power of the police force in Jackson and create a new court to handle their cases imposed a parallel state justice system that does not answer to the voters. Three civil rights organizations have also sued to block the creation of the new court.
Latasha Smith, the woman who filed the lawsuit Tuesday, was struck in the arm by a bullet that passed through the walls of her apartment on December 11. A Capitol Police officer opened fire after chasing an allegedly stolen car into Smith’s Jackson apartment complex.
Capitol Police and the agency investigating the shooting, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, have said little to explain what happened and have declined to release the officer’s name or body camera footage, citing their investigation into the shooting. shooting.
An NBC News analysis of surveillance camera footage showed the officer shot a fleeing man after jumping from the suspected stolen car. The officer has since returned to active duty after the department head determined, based on an internal investigation, that the officer did not violate any laws, according to Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell.
Smith, 49, survived but the bullet remains lodged in her arm, and she said the shooting left her unable to work for months and traumatized her and her 13-year-old daughter, who was with her.
“Why not make them pay for what they did to me? I could have lost my life and my daughter could have lost hers,» Smith said.
Smith added that he hoped the lawsuit would force the Mississippi Capitol Police to change its policies and training on officers discharging weapons in places where people live.
Smith’s lawsuit, filed by attorneys Dennis Sweet III, Dennis Sweet IV and Carroll Rhodes, accuses Capitol Police officers of violating Smith’s civil rights by “discharging their firearms into a crowded and occupied dwelling without take human life into account. The shooting was the result of poor officer training and «demonstrated a willful disregard» for the rights of Smith and other Jackson residents, the lawsuit says.
A representative for Tindell and Capitol Hill Police Chief Bo Luckey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The shooting was the fourth for the Capitol Police since their officers began patrolling the streets of Jackson last summer, as part of a statewide effort to expand the agency’s power in the capital city. Supporters of the Capitol Police’s larger role say additional patrols are needed to help the understaffed Jackson Police Department deal with a rise in violent crime. The effort includes an aggressive street crime unit that focuses on enforcing traffic laws and finding stolen cars and illegal drugs.
But some Jackson residents and elected leaders say Capitol Police officers have not been properly trained to handle such work, citing the shootings as evidence. Records show that at the time of the shootings last year, Capitol Police policies on the use of force had not been updated since 2006, a period in which national standards evolved.
bracey harris contributed.