Lawsuit Filed After Oklahoma Police Murdered Quadry Sanders. Cops Shot Black Man 12X While His Hands Were Up and After He Fell to the Ground. Was Holding a Baseball Cap, Cops Charged w/Manslaughter

From [HERE] and [HERE] Even after a cop shot Quadry Sanders four times as he was raising his arms in surrender, two officers continued to shoot him after he was on the ground still trying to raise his hands to comply with their orders.

“Hands! Hands! Hands!” Lawton police officer Robert Hinkle yelled, according to the body camera footage released Friday.

But when a wounded Sanders tried to raise his hands, Hinkle shot him an additional seven times, accusing him of “reaching.”

His partner, Lawton police officer Nathan Ronan, fired four times. The video captured him admitting to never seeing a gun in Sanders’ hands before a sergeant tells him to shush.

“Quit reaching! Quit reaching!” Hinkle yelled after firing seven shots.

“I’m down,” Sanders cried out in pain.

Seconds later, they were dragging him on the ground away from the doorway where he had walked out of before he had been shot, leaving a trail of blood. The 29-year-old man was pronounced dead on the way to the hospital.

Now Sanders’ mother has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against two former officers and the city. Mina Woods, a Texas resident and mother of Quadry Malik Sanders, seeks a jury trial and more than $1 million, according to the lawsuit filed July 15 in federal court. 

Named in the lawsuit are former Lawton police officers Robert Hinkle, 30, and Nathan Ronan, 30, along with the city of Lawton. 

Hinkle, who also is Black, and Ronan face first-degree manslaughter charges in Comanche County District Court after the Dec. 5 shooting death of Sanders, who was 29. 

The incident took place on December 5, 2021 after police received a 911 call accusing Sanders of violating a protective order while waving a gun around.

However, no weapon was ever found at the scene and the only thing Sanders was holding was a baseball cap, according to the statement by district attorney’s office published by KSWO.

According to the Comanche County District Attorney’s office:

Officer Hinkle begins telling Mr. Sanders “hands, hands” as well as “down, down, down, down.” Mr. Sanders hands are clearly seen and the only item visible in his hands is a ball cap, which he transfers from his right hand to his left hand. As he is receiving these orders, Mr. Sanders quickly turns back towards the front door of the home.

Officers Hinkle and Ronan then walk closer to Mr. Sanders. As Hinkle approaches, Mr. Sanders can be seen raising both of his hands in the air, above his head. At that time, Officer Hinkle shoots his firearm four times at Mr. Sanders. Mr. Sanders falls to the ground and appears to have been shot, at which time Officer Hinkle once again orders “hands, hands, hands,” and to “quit reaching.” 

Mr. Sanders sits up from his back with his hands above his head at which time Officer Hinkle fires his firearm seven additional times. Simultaneously with these shots, Officer Ronan also fires his weapon at Mr. Sanders four times. Mr. Sanders is then secured by Officer Hinkle. On the way to Comanche County Memorial Hospital by ambulance, Quadry Sanders is pronounced dead. No weapon was located on Mr. Sanders’ body or in the area where he was shot.

An autopsy determined that Sanders was shot 12 times in the abdomen, groin, legs, arms and hand.

“It was just murder,” said attorney Lee Merritt who is representing the family of Sanders. “There was no justification.”

In January 2021, Hinkle shot and killed another man but was cleared by the district attorney’s office who said the man he killed, Zonterious Johnson, was wielding a gun, according to KSKO.

The two cops were fired in January after an internal affairs investigation. They remain free on a $250,000 bond, according to the Lawton Constitution. Their next court date is August 1.

On Jan. 7, Lawton City Manager Michael Cleghorn issued a statement that “upon careful consideration,” Hinkle and Ronan were fired from the police department. 

“The actions of these officers were not in conformance with the Lawton Police Department’s well-established training protocols, policies, practices, customs or procedures,” Cleghorn said in the statement.

In May, the city of Lawton released more than 23 minutes of the police body camera footage.

The autopsy report revealed Sanders was struck 12 times, including in the abdomen, groin area, legs, arm and hand.

In May, following a months-long investigation by the OSBI, Cabelka charged Hinkle and Ronan in the death of Sanders. Cabelka said in a statement the shooting of Sanders “was not justified.” Cabelka said no weapon was found on Sanders nor in the area where he was shot. 

Ronan and Hinkle were released on a $25,000 bond. They face a minimum of four years in state prison if convicted in the fatal shooting of Sanders. 

The civil lawsuit against the former Lawton police officers and the city claims Sanders did not pose a threat to police the night he was killed. 

“Mr. Sanders’ hands were visible and did not contain weapons when he exited the home,” the lawsuit says. “Mr. Sanders put hands up in a manner universally understood by police officers to be a sign of compliance.”