On Monday, Federal judges dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit against Boston and State Police officers who fired 31 shots at a man named Juston Root in three seconds after an incident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a car chase into Brookline in 2020. During the incident on Feb. 7, 2020, Root, 41, was armed with what appeared to be a gun, police said, but it was a BB gun. Police responded to the hospital after Root brandished the apparent firearm to a hospital security guard. Root then pulled the BB gun at a Boston police officer who fired his weapon, police said. Potentially injured from one of the shots, police fatally shot Root. An investigation determined that the officers involved in the shooting were justified and acted reasonably. Root suffered from mental illness, according to his family, who called for an independent investigation repeatedly in the years after his death. His sister Jennifer Root Bannon filed the federal lawsuit, which was dismissed in the court of appeals on Monday, in 2020. Root Bannon sued the six officers involved and the City of Boston, claiming that excessive force was used against Root and that the City did not adequately train or supervise the involved officers. According to court documents, one officer intentionally hit Root’s car with his police cruiser while in pursuit, which is against policy. Judge Sandra Lynch, who wrote the majority opinion, said five officers who fired their guns independently gave evidence that Root reached into his jacket when told to put his hands up. Lynch wrote that this is “exactly” what other witnesses saw in Brookline — including a medical doctor and a woman with EMS training. The decision read, “We agree with the district court’s conclusion that the officers acted reasonably under the circumstances during the fatal shooting and so did not violate the Fourth Amendment.” Lynch wrote that because the officers weren’t found to have used excessive force, the City of Boston was cleared of the claims. Judge Lara Montecalvo wrote her own opinion, in which she agreed with the majority’s decision in favor of the City of Boston but dissented from part of the majority opinion. Montecalvo wrote, “Although we face a fact-intensive inquiry, in my mind, only one question remains: What was Juston Root doing in those few seconds prior to the officers’ use of deadly force?” “If, as the Plaintiff contends, Root was on the ground, severely bleeding, and merely holding his hand to his chest, the officers’ actions appear to be ‘patently unreasonable.’” Montecalvo said more than one officer did not have their body camera turned on or on their person, which leaves the seconds before the fatal 31 shots were fired unclear. One officer, who fired eight rounds at Root, testified that he was not wearing his body camera, the decision said. Only one officer was recording the interaction with her body camera — which was blocked for five seconds before Root was shot, according to court documents. Montecalvo wrote, “My view is that the majority has taken an unduly narrow view of the evidence. It is readily apparent that the officers’ accounts contain many inconsistencies as to Root’s movements directly before the shooting.” Some officers said Root was seated or kneeling, while some said he was standing. Another later said he was “merely attempting to stand.” Montecalvo also writes that officers conferred for about an hour about the incident, and some officers met with their lawyers, which is against Boston police policy. Montecalvo wrote, “The evidence, at this summary-judgment stage, presents significant reasons to discount the officers’ stories and offers a reasonable alternative – that Root was unable to act threateningly during the essential time period.”
Boston Police Shooting: Wrongful Death Lawsuit Dismissed
