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The recent shooting death of a young man in Ghent in Norfolk by a police officer has raised some disturbing questions about excessive force.
Joshua Johnson, 22, of Norfolk was shot dead by a police officer in the parking lot of the Wells Fargo bank on 21st Street on May 20, 2013.
Police officers were called to the Wells Fargo for a report of someone trying to pass a bad check, according to police. Matters quickly escalated.
Joshua Johnson, 22, of W. 27th Street in Norfolk, was shot and killed by police. His passenger, Virgie May Hairston, 21, was arrested and charged with conspiring to commit or assist in a larceny, reported WAVY.com.
Dead driver’s family critical of police
Hairston was to tell WAVY.com a day after the incident she thought the check was legitimate.
“We pulled up to the teller and the lady say hold on my computer is messing up,” said Hairston. “Police come straight in front of us, and next thing you know, he hopped out the car and started shooting,” she was quoted as saying in the WAVY report.
Two officers showed up to the scene, blocking the drive-through lane.
Police say Johnson then put his car in reverse and accelerated, hitting an officer in the leg. They said the officer was thrown onto the trunk of the car.
Hairston maintained neither she or Johnson knew a police officer was behind their vehicle.
My thoughts are with the family of the dead man in this case. If police officers used excessive force there may be grounds for a wrongful death lawsuit.
Wrongful death lawsuits against law enforcement officers are rare but they occur. In Dallas, Texas the family of Tobias Mackey, an unarmed man who was shit nine times by a police officer, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
Cooper Hurley’s main office is in Ghent, Norfolk. Contact our Norfolk wrongful death lawyers for a free consultation.