The family of a man who was fatally shot by a Georgia police officer filed a lawsuit under federal disability discrimination laws, saying he was having a mental health crisis and officers weren’t adequately trained to respond.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Atlanta, the family of Matthew Zadok Williams alleges “disability discrimination” and says DeKalb County had a “policy of failing to adequately train police officers to safely arrest persons with mental illness.” A county police officer shot and killed Williams on April 12, 2021, in the townhome community where he lived.
The lawsuit, filed Friday by Williams’ mother and sister, cites the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. A county spokesperson declined to comment on pending litigation.
“DeKalb County has known for years that it is putting officers and citizens at risk by failing to provide proper training and support for custodial arrests of persons in mental crisis,” Leighton Moore, a lawyer for Williams’ family, said in a news release. “This lawsuit will hold the County responsible for its obligations, and hopefully make change.”
DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston in June declined to pursue criminal charges in the shooting, saying that she found the officers’ use of force to be justified. Williams’ family opposed that decision.
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DeKalb County police officers encountered Williams when a woman called 911 to report that “a homeless person in an altered state” had been lying in the woods and then was walking aimlessly around the community. She called back a second time to say that when she startled him, the man pulled out a knife and then immediately tried to hide it before walking away.
The lawsuit says the facts relayed by that woman “put DeKalb County and its officers on notice that Zadok was in mental crisis.” And one of the officers who responded had previously gone to that…
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