David McAtee’s Family Files Wrongful Death Suit Against Law Enforcement
Written by SOURCE on September 23, 2020
The family of David McAtee has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Louisville Metro Police Department, two of its officers, and members of the Kentucky National Guard.
The suit, which was filed this week in Jefferson Circuit Court, comes less than four months after McAtee—a Black business owner—was fatally shot during a Black Lives Matter protest. According to the lawsuit obtained by CNN, Louisville officers and National Guard members had pursued protestors who had fled to McAtee’s BBQ restaurant for safety. Law enforcement reportedly began firing “what appeared to be pepper balls” at the demonstrators, hitting a number of civilians, including McAtee’s niece, Maychelle.
Per the lawsuit:
Unaware of what was causing the chaos and who was shooting at his customers and his niece, David McAtee stepped out of the kitchen door to try and defend his restaurant, home, family, and customers. Immediately, the police shot and killed him. Less than thirty seconds after David McAtee was cooking a sandwich, he lay dying on his kitchen floor,
The family argues a series of escalating mistakes by police and soldiers is what ultimately led to McAtee’s death. The suit names LMPD Officers Katie Crews and Allen Austin among the defendants, pointing out that they were placed on administrative leave because their bodycams were turned off during the shooting. The plaintiffs also accuse officers and National Guard members of using excessive force without justification. The LMPD claims officers and soldiers opened fire after someone had began shooting at them as they attempted to clear McAtee’s restaurant.
“Both LMPD and National Guard members returned fire,” former police chief Steve Conrad said during a June press conference.
The office for Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has since announced that the Kentucky National Guard was responsible for McAtee’s death.
“Our crime lab was not able to match up the particular bullet fragments with a particular rifle,” said Michael Brown, the secretary for the Governor’s Executive Cabinet. “But we do know the caliber and type of ammunition and we know that night those rounds were only fired by one agency, and that was the Kentucky National Guard, responding to the fire that they had received.”
“[The McAtees need] justice,” the family’s attorney, Steve Romines, told WKYT. “Accountability for the people responsible for this, and that goes all the way up to the top. Who ordered them there in the first place, and the people executing the orders and ignoring the policies that led to his death. There has to be accountability. They have to be held responsible.”
