MARTINSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a $200 million lawsuit stemming from a fatal police shooting in West Virginia.
U.S. District Judge Gina Groh ruled Wednesday that Martinsburg police officers didn’t use excessive force when they shot 50-year-old Wayne Arnold Jones of Stephens City, Virginia, more than 20 times in 2013.
Groh’s order says the use of deadly force was reasonable and justified.
The order says the officers were in a volatile situation in which an armed individual was resisting arrest and not complying with their orders.
Jones’ family filed the lawsuit against the officers and the city. Their attorney, Sherman Lambert, told media outlets that the family declined to accept a settlement offer because they wanted the public to know the truth about the incident.
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