MORE TO LEARN

Kansas City Pays $2.3 Million to Family of Teen Killed by Cop

17-year-old John Albers was shot and killed last year while backing out of his driveway.

The city of Overland Park, Kansas, settled a $2.3 million lawsuit Wednesday with a family whose 17-year-old son was killed by a police officer last year as he backed out of his family’s garage, according to The Washington Post. As The Daily Beast previously reported, friends of John Albers called police in January 2018 after the teen threatened to kill himself on FaceTime. But the lawsuit alleges that when officers arrived on the scene, they did not knock on the door or make their presence known to Albers. It further claims that as Albers attempted to back his family’s minivan down the driveway at less than 3 miles per hour, officer Clayton Jennison waited only a second before firing two rounds into the vehicle, killing the junior varsity soccer player and wrestler.

The settlement doesn’t entirely resolve the case, however. The Albers family and a number of other advocates in Overland Park are still working to force the city to release more evidence regarding their son’s death. The Washington Post notes that Johnson County prosecutor Steve Howe ruled Jennison’s actions justifiable a month after John Albers’ death, but only released two dash-cam videos of the shooting. Advocates have filed lawsuits against the city hoping to obtain the police report, and the results of other departments’ investigations into Jennison’s conduct.

TOO YOUNG

Teen Killed by Police Was Simply Backing Out of Garage: Suit

Olivia Messer