The family of an Anchorage man killed by police in May is suing the four officers who fired at him.
The wrongful death lawsuit is a civil action, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for Alaska against officers Jacob Jones, Jacob Ostolaza, Noel Senoran and James Stineman.
The state’s Office of Special Prosecutions cleared them of criminal wrongdoing last month. Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case said the department had its own internal, confidential process underway to review the officers’ conduct.
The officers went to Kristopher Handy’s Sand Lake apartment complex in response to 911 calls about a domestic disturbance early on the morning of May 13. A caller warned that Handy was armed and agitated.
As police approached the apartment, video recordings show Handy came outside with a shotgun in hand. He ignored police commands to drop it, yelled an obscenity and strode toward the police.
Police initially told the public that Handy had raised the shotgun toward the officers before police opened fire. But various video recordings show he had the gun pointed at the ground immediately before he was killed.
Civil rights attorney James Roberts with the firm Palmer Perlstein in Dallas is on the team representing the Handy family. The lawsuit he filed Tuesday doesn’t target the police department or Anchorage’s local government, just the four officers as individuals. But Roberts said Wednesday, “We fully intend to bring in the city as the case progresses.”
“The bigger issue here is that there appears to be a real failure to train these officers on when to use deadly force,” Roberts said. “That’s something that’s going to play out in the course of our lawsuit, and why the city will be brought in. I mean, I’m sure you’re aware there was another police shooting last night.”
Anchorage police killed a 16-year-old girl Tuesday who they say was armed with a knife in an apartment. It’s the police department’s sixth shooting since May, and its fourth fatal one.
“There needs to be a fix, and we’re going to figure out what that needs to be throughout our lawsuit and hopefully force the police department to implement those changes,” Roberts said.
The officers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Roberts said Wednesday they were in the process of being served with the lawsuit.
Handy’s family is seeking a variety of damages, both to punish the officers and to cover various expenses and losses, though the lawsuit doesn’t specify a dollar figure.
Jeremy Hsieh covers Anchorage with an emphasis on housing, homelessness, infrastructure and development. Reach him atjhsieh@alaskapublic.orgor 907-550-8428. Read more about Jeremyhere.
