Marine Iraq Veteran Ended Up Dead After Call For Help

Claim details why family faults Wichita police in Marine veteran’s shooting death 
The Wichita Eagle
BY TIM POTTER
June 16, 2015

Standing in her front yard, Beverly Allen holds a picture of her son, Icarus Randolph, while surround by her daughters Ida Allen, left, Elisa Allen and Briana Alford. All four were witnesses when Icarus Randolph was shot and killed by a Wichita police officer on July 4, 2014.
Travis Heying The Wichita Eagle

Icarus Randolph – a Marine veteran who suffered from PTSD after serving in Iraq – became a casualty of Wichita police officers who ignored their department’s policy on helping mentally ill people, Randolph’s family alleges in a legal claim against the city.

The city on Tuesday released to The Eagle a copy of the full claim document, which demands $5 million and says that a Wichita police officer needlessly and wrongly shot and killed the 26-year-old in his mother’s front yard on July the Fourth as his family pleaded for help and watched in horror. Family members also were in the line of fire, the claim says.

The claim faults the actions of one officer in particular, saying that although he had training on dealing with the mentally ill, he violated the policy by escalating the situation. He argued with family members within earshot of Randolph, the claim says. Under the policy, the Randolph family should have been removed from the front yard to help de-escalate the situation and to protect them “if a situation goes badly,” the claim says.

The officer also worsened the situation and further violated the policy by stepping toward Randolph as he advanced and by failing to give himself room to withdraw, the family alleges. Wakarusa lawyer Lee Barnett filed the claim on behalf of the family on June 2. A claim is a required step before a lawsuit can be filed.
read more here
Linked from RawStory