John Cooper is Interviewed by TV News Over Norfolk Police Shooting of Mentally Ill Man

John Cooper of Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers has been interviewed on WAVY 10 News over the case of a man who was shot dead in Norfolk earlier this month.

WAVY On Your Side reported additional details on a fatal officer-involved shooting in Norfolk earlier this month, and invited John Cooper, who has been hired by the family of the dead man, to comment.

An emergency room report stated David Latham, 35, was shot at least eight times by a Norfolk police officer on June 6. The officer involved shooting occurred at Latham’s home on West 30th Street. Mr. Latham’s family said he suffered from mental illness.

“We need more answers,” Latham’s aunt, Barbara Latham-White, told the news channel. The tragedy unfolded after Mr. Latham’s family members called police to get medical attention for him. The report said family members said he was off his medication and had a knife in his hand. Officers found him standing outside his front door and said he felt threatened.

“One of these officers ended up opening fire and shooting him,” stated John Cooper, who was hired to represent the Latham family after the shooting.

The emergency room doctor’s report obtained by the TV channel said Latham had at least eight different wounds: he was shot twice in the chest, in the arm pit, twice in the back and in the hands.

“If they are going to shoot to kill, which is my understanding that they were attempting to do, why couldn’t they have done that with two bullets to the chest?” John Cooper said in the TV interview. “Why are they continuing to shoot when he appears to be on the ground, where they are putting shots into his back?”

He raised the question as to why the other three police officers at the scene did not appear to feel threatened or to open fire.

The family is now waiting for Norfolk Police Department to finish its internal investigation. The case will then be turned over the Commonwealth’s Attorney to see if any criminal charges should be brought.

John Cooper, Jim Hurley and Bill O’Mara of Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers represent families in wrongful death cases across Virginia and further afield. If you have lost a loved one and you believe your tragic loss was the fault of another person, call us at 757.455.0077.