Vancouver Police sued after Iraq Veteran shot and killed

Family sues Vancouver police for $11.5M, alleges wrongful death
Iraq War vet was killed during 2010 altercation
By Tyler Graf
Columbian staff writer
Tuesday, June 11, 2013

The parents of an Iraq War veteran killed nearly three years ago during an altercation with police have filed an $11.5 million lawsuit against the Vancouver Police Department, saying their son had tried to cooperate with officers before they shot him.

The wrongful death lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday says officers fired more than 13 rounds at Nikkolas Lookabill, 22, striking him nine times as he lay immobile in the street during the early morning of Sept. 7, 2010.

Officers didn’t correctly assess the situation when they confronted Lookabill as he headed south on Fruit Valley Road following an argument with his girlfriend, the suit alleges, nor were they properly trained to handle a mentally ill war veteran.

Officers stopped Lookabill following reports that he was barking like a dog and making other noises as he walked down the street. A pedestrian told police that Lookabill had flashed a gun at him and two friends, but also told them he posed no danger.

Lookabill, who’d previously served in the National Guard, was registered to carry a concealed weapon, the suit says. He suffered from a “treatable form” of post-traumatic stress disorder, a mental illness that officers knew about based on prior interactions with the man.
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Man killed by Vancouver police was Iraq vet