BOONEVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A Kentucky sheriff and deputy created a “needlessly violent confrontation” that resulted in a fatal shooting, a federal judge said in a ruling that paves the way for a civil trial in response to a lawsuit filed by the shooting victim’s children.
U.S. District Judge Robert E. Wier dismissed some claims in the lawsuit, but said a jury needed to decide others, including whether the shooting was reasonable, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported on Thursday.
An attorney for former Owsley County Sheriff Kelly Shouse and deputy Michael Havicus had sought a summary judgment that would dismiss all claims against them in the 2017 shooting of Charles Harris.
The lawmen went to Harris’ home after his girlfriend accused him of shoving her, said he kept knives and that he might be dangerous, according to court records.
Wier said Harris declined to give the lawmen permission to enter his apartment, but they went in anyway so Harris went to his bedroom and closed the door. When officers followed, they said they found Harris armed with a knife and then retreated as he advanced.
Havicus said his back was against the front door when Harris “kind of lunged toward me” with the knife and he fired one shot, killing Harris.
Kentucky State Police investigated, but a grand jury decided not to charge the officers. Afterward, Harris’ children and estate filed the wrongful death lawsuit.
Shouse and Havicus “in several concerning respects showed little regard for the limits on police power enshrined in the Bill of Rights,” Wier said in his ruling. “The avoidable interaction between them and the Harris family, at Charles Harris’s home, cost Harris his life and surely marked forever the lives of his minor children.”
Jeffrey C. Mando, who represents the officers, said they maintain they had consent to enter the apartment and did not use excessive force.
“It was Mr. Harris who escalated this situation,” Mando said.
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