Woman sues city over death of husband

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The wife of a Larimer man killed by Pittsburgh police in January 2017 says in a wrongful death lawsuit that three officers fired into her house “indiscriminately” and hit her husband after he had shot at a burglar.

In a federal complaint filed Friday by attorney J. Kerrington Lewis, Brenda Richmond said officers responding to her call for help on Jan. 22 at 129 Finley St. fired through the front door and killed Christopher M. Thompkins, 57.

She said her husband had been shooting at an intruder, Juan Brian JeterClark, 23, and that police acted recklessly.

The defendants are the three unnamed officers from Zone 5, police Chief Scott Schubert and the city.

The district attorney’s office has been reviewing the case but hasn’t announced any decisions. Mike Manko, the office spokesman, said he couldn’t comment.

At the time, police said Mr. Thompkins was firing in the direction of the officers when they showed up at the house at 4 a.m.

Ms. Richmond, 52, of Penn Hills, told media outlets then that police “shot the wrong guy.” She also said, however, that the officers didn’t realize they were shooting her husband.

“They were trying to do their job,” she said. “They didn’t know they were shooting Mark. … They saw somebody shooting, they shoot.” Thompkins went by his middle name.

The complaint says the officers were outside the home but didn’t issue any warnings or indicate they were out there before shooting.

She said she and Thompkins, a convicted felon, were asleep when they were awakened at 4 a.m. by Mr. Jeter-Clark, who they saw standing next to their bed.

Thompkins and Ms. Richmond retreated to a closet, where Ms. Richmond grabbed her gun and gave it to Thompkins. She called 911 while Thompkins chased after Mr. JeterClark.

Ms. Richmond said she then heard shots outside the bedroom and saw her husband at the top of the stairs with the gun.

The complaint does not spell out if she saw Thompkins firing, but in an account she gave to reporters, she said he went downstairs to a landing and shot down the stairs “to scare the guy away.” His mother lived on the first floor and she said he was worried about her safety.

About five minutes later, according to the complaint, police outside the house fired into the landing area just inside the front door, where Thompkins was standing. By that point, Mr. Clark was in the basement, Mr. Lewis said.

Multiple rounds hit Thompkins and killed him.

Ms. Richmond said she ran and tried to leave through a window. Police stopped her and escorted her out of the house “past the dead and bloody body” of Thompkins.

She said police should have announced themselves.

“At no time did any of the officers of the Pittsburgh Police Department give any warning of their intent to use deadly force and to fire any bullets into any part of the home at 129 Finley Street,” the complaint says.

At the time of the incident, she told reporters, “I heard ‘boom, boom, boom,’ I didn’tknow it was the cops.”

Police found Mr. Clark on a couch and arrested him on charges of trespassing and other offenses.

Mr. Lewis said Monday that he’s not yet sure of the identities of the officers who fired but that they should not have shot into the house without knowing who the target was.

The suit is seeking compensatory and other damages against the city for excessive force, failure to train police and wrongful death.