From [HERE]

City claims police followed correct procedure, officers justified in shooting 29 shots at mentally ill man, killing him with 17 shots. Abuse of force lawsuit brought by Henderson’s children being tried this week in 4th District Court

It’s been kept hush hush but the family of a man shot to death by the Monroe Police Department is going on this week in 4th District Court. The outcome of the trial could cost the city as much as $500,000 in cash and even more in goodwill if the family succeeds.

There are only a few seats in Courtroom six in the district court, but every seat was filled with police officers and the family of William Mark Henderson, a mentally ill man, who was killed by five Monroe Police officers who fired at him 29 times with 9MM glock pistols, hitting him 17 times; four of which were in the back.

The incident happened in August 2004. There was a public outcry over the failure of a grand jury to indict the officers involved, the refusal of the mayor to respond to community concerns or even attend the funeral of the slain man, and the casual and jubilant attitude taken by the five police shooters.

The officers involved were never fired or reprimanded for their actions. They were placed on paid leave and threw a drinking party on the levee celebrating their return to work. They received raises along with other officers upon their return.

This week in court, the five officers are the subject of a civil suit filed by Henderson’s children.

The legal question involved is whether or not the police department is guilty of using excessive force in handling the complaint against Mr. Henderson in 2004.

This week in court the details of Mr. Henderson’s death were generally undisputed:

A passerby reported seeing a man walking the street carrying a chain and a knife. When police arrived they found Henderson walking across a field toward an alley. The police yelled at him to put down the knife repeatedly, almost 30 times. Henderson continued walking, spouting vulgarities saying police could not shoot him because they could not see him.

An officer came close to Henderson and shot him in the face with pepper balls but he continued walking away from the police. Then he was shot with a bean bag. Shortly after Henderson made a half turn in the direction of police who were nearly 30 feet or more away from him, a volley of gunfire hit, knocked him against a fence and bounced him back. On the bounceback, a second volley of shots hit him, knocking him to ground where he lay unattended.

When the smoke cleared, 29 shots had been fired; 17 hit Henderson the other 12 went into the house of a neighbor, miraculously missing scores of people who watched the incident from their yards.

Was the killing of William Henderson an abuse of force? Were there other approaches available? Those were the issues that consumed the first three days of the trial this week as attorneys for Henderson’s children took their complaint against the Monroe Police to court. [MORE]