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LOUISIANA RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Pellet gun owner accuses law enforecment officials of wrongful injury

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MONROE — A Union Parish man is suing local law enforcement officials, alleging assault, abuse and failure to protect.

Ryan Cooper of Downsville filed a lawsuit Aug. 8 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana Monroe Division against deputy Ken Slocum and Union Parish Sheriff Dusty Gates, alleging violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges on Aug. 11, 2015, the defendants were responding to a 911 call by Victoria Dobbs, who informed them Cooper was carrying a pellet gun and was planning on hurting himself. The suit says Slocum and Gates ordered the plaintiff to exit the vehicle.

The lawsuit states Cooper complied, exited the vehicle and moved to the front of the vehicle holding a pellet gun in his hand. When the law enforcers instructed him to put the weapon down, the suit says, Cooper turned and began to run, dropping the gun before being shot in the back. 

The lawsuit says Cooper sustained severe injuries, great pain of mind and body, as well as accruing medical expenses. The plaintiff alleges Slocum and Gates used excessive force, acted intentionally, carelessly, recklessly, and with malice and/or deliberate indifference to his safety and deprived him of his civil rights.

Cooper seeks a trial by jury, compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney fees, and all other legal and equitable remedies as allowed by law. He is represented by attorney Robert S. Noel II of Monroe.

U.S. District Court of Louisiana Monroe Division Case number 3:16-cv-01154

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