The family of a teenager fatally shot by police during a no-knock raid sues Alabama city

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The family of a teenager fatally shot by police during a no-knock raid sues Alabama city

2024-12-24 04:28 Last Updated At：04:31

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The mother of a 16-year-old who was shot by SWAT police during a no-knock, predawn raid in Alabama, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the police officers involved and the city of Mobile, alleging the teenager was “killed in cold blood.”

Randall Adjessom, 16, was sleeping in his childhood home when SWAT police used a battering ram to break down his front door on November 13, 2023, just after 5:30 a.m. while it was still dark outside. Adjessom's mother, aunt, grandmother and three sisters — two of whom were also minors — were also in the house. The warrant was executed as part of an investigation into Adjessom's older brother for suspected marijuana possession and distribution, according to the complaint. The 16-year-old was not a suspect; his older brother was not there and didn't live at the home.

The Mobile Police Department tapped SWAT officers because the narcotics unit was understaffed, according to the complaint.

Adjessom came out of his bedroom with a gun that he pointed at the officers, but then subsequently retreated with his hands up once he realized he was confronting law enforcement, the complaint said citing sealed body-camera footage.

An unnamed officer shot Adjessom four times within 11 seconds of entering his home. The lawsuit alleged that police did not provide adequate medical attention to Adjessom, who did not arrive at an emergency room that was eight minutes away until 50 minutes after he was shot.

Adjessom's family members were forced to stay in the living room for hours before they were informed that an officer shot Adjessom, according to the complaint.

“They’re supposed to be peace officers, aren’t they? How many more young Black boys like Randall have to be buried following police brutality before the MPD’s legendary culture of unchecked excessive force is finally put to rest,” said Adjessom’s mother, Akouvi Adjessom, in a statement on Monday.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Mobile, names the city and unidentified officers as defendants and seeks unspecified damages. The city attorney and a spokesperson for the police department did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

“No-knock” warrants — which allow law enforcement agents to enter a home without announcing their presence — have come under scrutiny in recent years after Louisville, Kentucky, police killed Breonna Taylor in her home in March 2020, leading to mass protests over racial injustice in policing.

In 2021, the Justice Department changed its policy to limit the use of no-knock warrants, requiring agents to get approval from federal prosecutors and a supervisory law enforcement agent.

Elizabeth A. Bailey, Cynthia B. Morgan and Steven A. Medina, attorneys for Adjessom's mother, characterized his death as an “unquestionably foreseeable and preventable tragedy.”

Adjessom was one of four high-profile police killings that sparked a public outcry in Mobile and eventually led to an investigation into the Mobile Police Department by former federal prosecutor Kenyen Brown at the request of Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson. The investigation culminated in an over 100-page partially redacted report published in May based on interviews, a review of department policy and body-camera footage.

The investigation looked into Adjessom's killing and found that the officer who shot him complied with the city's use of force because Adjessom was armed and posed a threat. The report did not specify whether Adjessom was retreating with his hands up when he was shot.

However, the investigation also concluded that the decision to execute the search warrant before dawn did not adequately prioritize “the sanctity of life."

The officers conducting the raid had a “preconceived notion” that the occupants in Adjessom's home were dangerous even though “there was no indication that any of the occupants had violent histories, and the target's only felony was for marijuana,” the report said.

The report additionally cited frequent misconduct among officers in the city.

“There are numerous constitutional violations including the beating of a handcuffed suspect, the going into or the attempt to go into cell phones repeatedly, the denigration of suspects of deadly force during press conferences, the illegal and unconstitutional detentions without probable cause,” Brown said.

The report ultimately did not recommend that the Department of Justice investigate the police department, saying that local law enforcement was willing to implement its own reforms. In March, an ordinance that would have banned no-knock warrants failed to pass in the Mobile city council.

Safiyah Riddle is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Lindsey Vonn thinks her new titanium knee could start a trend in skiing. And pro sports in general

2024-12-24 17:43 Last Updated At：18:00

ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) — When Lindsey Vonn last raced on the World Cup circuit nearly six years ago, the constant pain in her knee left her in tears and led to retirement.

Flash forward to Vonn’s comeback race on a titanium knee at age 40 last weekend, and the American skiing standout couldn’t have felt more different.

No more pain. No more swelling. No more tears.

“The last few years of my career were so much different than they are right now. I’m skiing without thinking about my knee, which I really haven’t done since I first tore my ACL in 2013. So it’s been a long time that I felt this good,” Vonn said Saturday after placing 14th in a super-G in St. Moritz. “I’m a little bit older, but honestly I’m a hell of a lot stronger than I once was.”

So much stronger that she’s talking up her knee replacement surgery — the first of its kind in World Cup skiing — as a new frontier for the sport.

In April, Vonn had a robot-assisted replacement performed by Martin Roche, a South Florida-based orthopedist specializing in complex knee disorders. Part of the bone in her right knee was cut off and replaced by two titanium pieces. A month later, she was planning her comeback.

“It’s a lot better than my non-existent cartilage,” said Vonn, one of the most successful skiers of all time with 82 World Cup wins. “I’ve talked to a lot of skiers already about it and I really think that it could be something that should be considered.

“I feel amazing. I mean, obviously not everyone responds the same way to surgeries. For some reason, I bounce back pretty well from surgery. But I think it’s something to seriously consider for athletes that have a lot of knee problems.”

Andrea Panzeri, the Italian Winter Sports Federation’s head physician and an orthopedist who has operated numerous times on Vonn’s good friend and fellow downhiller, Sofia Goggia, said knee replacements are usually performed on patients older than 50.

“This is definitely the first time in World Cup history that such a young athlete has raced with one," Panzeri told The Associated Press. “And I’m not aware of any other elite-level athletes in other sports competing with one, either.”

Panzeri performs knee replacements. But he had never even thought about doing one on a World Cup skier — until he saw Vonn competing with one.

“Partial prosthetics, like the half-knee ones, are definitely the ones that offer the best performance and we’re seeing that (with Vonn)," Panzeri said. “I don’t think her decision is going to change pro sports. But it could provide more motivation for so-called ‘normal’ people to try a prosthetic."

Three-time Grand Slam tennis champion Andy Murray played with an artificial hip at the end of his career. Vonn’s former skiing teammate Julia Mancuso also redid her hip a few months after she retired in 2018 and maintains an active lifestyle.

“I, for sure, would have considered a comeback if I didn’t have kids," Mancuso told The AP recently. "So I can totally relate to Lindsey.”

But Panzeri said that “hips have different biomechanics than a knee and many more people are able to play sports with a hip prosthetic than a knee prosthetic."

Elan Goldwaser, a sports medicine physician at Columbia University Medical Center who works with the U.S. Ski Team, has seen many athletes come to his clinic for knee replacements but not elite-level competitors.

So, is Vonn’s operation going to be a trend-setter in skiing?

“I wouldn’t say it’s the go-to like in baseball with Tommy John surgery,” Goldwaser said in St. Moritz. “But if it’s necessary, it’s a good procedure to do.”

Chris Knight, Vonn’s personal coach, said they had questions over whether her titanium knee would hold up to the forces required to navigate downhill skiing turns at 80 mph (130 kph) as she hurls herself down steep mountains.

“There was not a lot of research out there with high-level athletes and partial knee replacements," Knight said. “It is a new frontier. But so far everything’s working really well... And I would not be surprised if other people do it because the results that Lindsey’s had, with no pain and no swelling, have been unbelievable.

“Granted, she stayed in great shape the entire time she hasn’t been racing. So, that probably helped. I mean, if you’re sitting around as a non-active skier and not doing anything with your fitness, then maybe it wouldn’t be as effective. But if you’re an athlete who’s got some knee problems, from what I’m seeing, I wouldn’t be saying no to them.”

Vonn’s new knee also left an impression on U.S. Ski Team head coach Paul Kristofic.

“I’m definitely due for one myself,” Kristofic said. “I’m going to talk to her."

Still, there are doubters.

Four-time overall World Cup champion Pirmin Zurbriggen told Swiss tabloid Blick last week that “there is a risk that Vonn will tear her artificial knee to pieces.”

But Panzeri said the titanium does not rupture.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “It’s a small prosthetic that doesn’t break.”

Vonn will race next in St. Anton, Austria, Jan. 11-12.

AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing