COLUMBUS (WCMH) – The family of a 13-year-old boy killed by a Columbus police officer is suing the City of Columbus for wrongful death and civil rights violations.
The lawsuit names the City of Columbus, Officer Bryan C. Mason and Chief Kim Jacobs as defendants. It was filed on the behalf of the Estate of Tyre King.
King was killed on September 14, 2016 while police were responding to a report of an armed robbery near the corner of South 18th Street and East Capital Street in Columbus.
The lawsuit claims Officer Mason used excessive force when he shot King as he was running away. It claims a witness said he never saw King holding a gun. The lawsuit also claims Officer Mason fatally shot King, then called him a “dumb n*****.”
According to Columbus police, King was shot when he pulled a gun from his waistband when officers tried to take him into custody. That gun was later determined to be a toy gun.
A grand jury declined to indict Mason on criminal charges in May of 2017.
The lawsuit also accuses the Columbus Division of Police of endorsing “the excessive, unreasonable and unjustifiable force that is connected to this fatal shooting and that placed Tyre and continues to place the public at unnecessary risk of death and/or injury from not only Officer Mason, but from others in the department who have a similar proclivity to use force unreasonably and inappropriately.”
An unspecified amount of damages and legal fees are requested by the plantiffs.