"Randall Adjessom was only 16 when he was awakened in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2023, by the sound of someone breaking into the Mobile, Alabama, home he shared with his grandmother, his aunt, and three of his sisters. He grabbed a handgun and ran to confront the intruders, only to discover a group of police officers who had battered down his front door, as the Associated Press reported."
"Adjessom was a student at Davidson High School, and loved ones describe him as a good-natured and generous teen who mowed his neighbors' lawns on the weekends. When police raided his home, they were reportedly investigating his older brother for drug possession. But his brother didn't even live at that address, according to the AP. Adjessom's grieving family members have sued the police, based on what they claim is evidence showing that officers made no effort to minimize harm to innocent occupants"
"The case echoes many others-including the shooting deaths of Breonna Taylor in Lexington, Kentucky, and Atatiana Jefferson in Fort Worth, Texas-in which law enforcement's use of " no-knock warrants " has gone horribly wrong. Officers have ended up shooting and killing law-abiding Black Americans who were trying to defend their homes against what they believed to be a nighttime break-in."
Randall Adjessom, 16, was awakened early on Nov. 13, 2023, by the sound of someone breaking into the Mobile, Alabama, home he shared with family. He grabbed a handgun and confronted the entry, then discovered police had battered down his front door. A wrongful-death lawsuit alleges that as Adjessom retreated with hands raised and gun pointed in the air, officers shot him four times. Police reportedly were serving a search warrant while investigating an older brother who did not live at that address. Family members allege officers made no effort to minimize harm to innocent occupants, and the case parallels other fatal incidents tied to no-knock warrants.
Read at Slate Magazine
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