Young Boy Shot & Killed In Louisiana Car Chase

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In what has been reported as a sad turn of events, a six-year-old boy was shot to death on November 5th in a Louisiana car chase between the boy’s father and marshals. Although the incident is still under investigation, it has been released that the shooting took place in Marksville as marshals were pursuing the child’s father, who they had a warrant to search. When the driver evaded police, but found himself at a dead-end, he reportedly started to back up into the marshals’ cars when they fired and struck both him and his son, who was a passenger. The father is now in critical condition, but sadly, his son died.

Excessive Force & Misconduct During the Car Chase?

Often we hear stories of people injured or killed by police or other government officials. Although sometimes these officials are simply performing their jobs in protecting public safety, other times they surpass acceptable limits on the use of force and their actions can result in wrongful death, particularly when they use police brutality or excessive force.

Section 1983

Section 1983 of Title 42 makes it unlawful for any actors of the state (police, marshals, etc.) to deprive you, as a citizen, of your Constitutional and/or legal rights. Many of these associated claims accuse police officers of using excessive force and thus causing personal injuries, or conducting a false arrest or malicious prosecution. Police officers—even in the course of having to use force in order to protect public safety—cannot act with willful, unreasonable conduct that violates your rights. They cannot exceed reasonable bounds on their duties and infringe upon your constitutional rights.

Use of police excessive force is one of the most common violations in terms of stories we see on the news of people being harmed in excessive force cases. Although officers (and marshals) can use reasonable force, whether or not it was reasonable depends upon the specific circumstances of the incident. In this Louisiana car chase case, it is possible that the investigation will reveal that blindly shooting at the driver’s car—knowing there was a passenger in it—was not reasonable in an effort to get the driver to stop and serve the warrant on him.

Louisiana Personal Injury Attorneys

If you have suffered an injury due to this activity, you may have a legal claim for a excessive force case. Civil rights laws allow for an attorney to seek compensatory (and, in some cases, even punitive) damages if you have been injured as a result of your rights being violated. Many injuries and deaths could be prevented had the state actor simply acted more reasonable, especially in cases such as this Louisiana car chase.  

The personal injury attorneys at Harrell & Nowak have helped many victims in New Orleans and surrounding areas throughout Louisiana obtain financial compensation for their injuries. Our lawyers will work to ensure that your rights are protected and that you receive a fair recovery if your injury has been caused by some else acting with excessive force. Contact us today for a free consultation.