A U.S. District Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the family of a man shot and killed by a Smyrna police officer in 2015.
Judge William Ray II ruled the use of deadly force taken by then-Sgt. Kenneth Owens in the March 24, 2015, shooting was “objectively reasonable as a matter of law, and that the applicable law was not clearly established such that every reasonable officer in Owens’ position would have understood that his use of deadly force would violate Nicholas Thomas’ constitutional or other federal rights.”
Thomas was working at the Goodyear store on Cumberland Parkway when Smyrna and Cobb County officers arrived around 1:30 p.m. to serve an arrest warrant for probation violation, police previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. However, police say when Thomas saw them, he left the store and got into a white, four-door Maserati belonging to a customer.
He allegedly drove towards the officers, which prompted the cops to fire multiple shots at the car. Thomas died at the scene near the mall.
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Thomas' family filed the lawsuit in 2017, seeking a recovery of damages for the 23-year-old's death. The suit also also alleged the city of Smyrna was "negligent" when they hired Owen because he had a 1999 conviction of domestic violence.
The shooting drew protests over the fact that Thomas was unarmed at the time of the incident. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in to investigate, and turned over its case file to the Cobb County District Attorney's Office.
Former District Attorney Vic Reynolds, the current GBI director, declined to pursue charges against Owens, who had been on the Smyrna force since 2001. In 2016, Smyrna police promoted Owens to the rank of lieutenant, a move Thomas' mother criticized.
Court documents show Craig Jones and Zack Greenamyre, attorneys for the family, on April 1 filed a notice to appeal the judge’s ruling. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reached out to both attorneys, as well as the attorney representing the city of Smyrna, to get their input on the ruling.
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