Late one night in March of 2013, Wayne Jones was walking on Queen Street in downtown Martinsburg. A city police officer stopped Jones, who was in the street, and began to question him. An argument ensued.
Police tasered Jones. He started to run away and then fell down. At some point, the police say, Jones produced a pocket knife and stabbed one of the officers in the torso. That wound turned out to be minor and did not require treatment.
Police then shot and killed Jones. Last week, the autopsy report was finally released, showing Jones had 23 gunshot wounds, 12 of them to the back and buttocks.
Jones’ two brothers have filed a federal lawsuit against five Martinsburg police officers and the City of Martinsburg, claiming the police used excessive force that night. They’re seeking $200 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
Sherman Lambert is the attorney for Jones’ family. He told me on Metronews Talkline last Friday that he believes the officers overreacted. “He’s face down on his stomach and he’s shot in the back,” Lambert said. “Where’s the threat?”
We know now that Jones suffered from schizophrenia, something the police did not know at the time. Still, Lambert contends in his lawsuit that Martinsburg “failed to train officers who might come into contact with individuals in mental health crisis or otherwise diminished mental capacity.”
Lambert has also taken his complaint to the U.S Attorney’s office for the Northern District of West Virginia. Officials there confirm that the case is being reviewed by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department.
The Hagerstown Herald-Mail reports that Martinsburg officials are not commenting because of ongoing litigation. One source I spoke with, however, pointed out that the Berkeley County grand jury investigated and decided not to charge the officers.
Police have an incredibly difficult job. They deal with the worst of the worst; the violent, drug and alcohol abusers, people who have no respect for the law. Officers are trained to always be on alert because they don’t know when an apparently routine situation can turn life-threatening.
But police are also taught to use restraint, to first try to defuse a situation rather than escalate.
We know that a Berkeley County grand jury of their peers decided not to bring criminal charges against the police officers who shot Wayne Jones. But this case warrants a more thorough review, especially now that the public finally knows the autopsy results.
The citizens of Martinsburg need to have confidence that their city police are there to, as their motto says, “serve, protect and respect.”