Four residents of St. John the Baptist Parish, La. are suing three of the parish's police officers over claims of the wrongful death of their relative.
Shondrika Anderson, Dominique A. Graham, Nolandra N. Anderson and Lisa Anderson, individually and as administrator of the succession of Lt. Nolan Anderson and as natural tutor of Nolan's minor child Aaliyah Anderson, filed a complaint Sept. 17 in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana against Sheriff Mike Tregre, Sgt. Richard Dubus and Detective Thomas Ricks, alleging negligence and wrongful death.
On Sept. 24, 2014, the complaint states, during a negotiation for peaceful resolution with Nolan Anderson, Dubus and Ricks intentionally shot and killed Nolan Anderson at 261 Pine St. in LaPlace, La., while performing a mission for Tregre.
At the time, Lt. Gregory Baker, a crisis management negotiator, told Dubus to stand down so Baker could have more time to negotiate with Nolan Anderson, who did not pose any imminent danger to any of the defendants, according to the complaint.
Ricks lethally shot Nolan Anderson after he had been incapacitated from gun shots unlawfully administered by Dubus, the complaint states.
The complaint states that Dubus and Ricks should have used non-lethal means to incapacitate Nolan Anderson, and that their negligence is a direct result of substandard training and management by Tregre.
The plaintiffs seek damages, court costs, and attorney fees.
They are represented by Jonathan H. Adams of Koeppel Traylor in New Orleans.
U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana case number 2:15-cv-04489-JTM-KWR