TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A federal jury in Tacoma has awarded $1 million to the family of a mentally ill man who was shot and killed by a Bainbridge Island police officer in 2010.
The Kitsap Sun reports (http://is.gd/kgrIcv) that the jury rejected the family’s claims that officers illegally entered Doug Ostling’s bedroom, used excessive force and failed to help Ostling after he was shot. But jurors did find that the police department failed to properly train its officers in dealing with the mentally ill.
Ostling’s family had asked for up to $5 million.
Police went to the home after Ostling made a rambling 911 call. He told officers there was no emergency, but they saw him inside with an ax. They first hit him with a Taser, then shot him twice as he apparently tried to close the door.
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Information from: Kitsap Sun, http://www.kitsapsun.com/
