COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A federal judge dismissed a civil lawsuit filed by the family of a teen who was shot and killed by police in Cobb County.
Vincent Truitt, 17, was shot twice in the back by a Cobb County police officer following a July 2020 car chase near the Six Flags Over Georgia amusement park. Truitt died at Grady Memorial Hospital the next day.
In Feb. 2021, a grand jury cleared the officer involved in the deadly shooting. The family decided to file a civil case and sued the county for a $150 million for “unreasonable death.”
A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the case was dismissed for “failure to state a claim.” An attorney who represents the Truitt family said the judge did give them an option to re-file the lawsuit.
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Channel 2 Action News received the following response from attorney Jackie Patterson, who represented the Truitt family.
“We’re truly disappointed in the courts ruling, in this matter but we certainly do respect the court’s ruling. The court ruled that since Mr. Truitt had a gun in his hand and that he was fleeing as a passenger in a stolen automobile, the court ruled that the law allows a fleeing suspect who is armed, to be shot regardless if he was facing the officer or not. The judge did rule that although the federal claims are thrown out and the state law claims are thrown out, he did give us six months if we want to re-file under state law and not under federal law. He did give us that option and we’re weighing our options,” Patterson wrote.
Channel 2 Action News also received the following statement from the county’s attorney.
“Since first being made aware of this officer-involved shooting in the summer of 2020, we have remained unwavering in our belief that the shooting, though unfortunate, was legally justified. We were please to find out today that the federal court agreed with our position,” Cobb County attorney H. William Rowling, Jr. stated.
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