A federal wrongful death lawsuit filed Thursday alleges Topeka police used excessive force in October 2022 when they fired 34 gunshots at Topekan Taylor Lowery, 33, killing him in the Kwik Shop parking lot at 4500 S.W. Topeka Blvd.
Lowery, who was Black, was either unarmed or holding a socket wrench when officers shot at him without just cause or provocation, said the lawsuit complaint.
“Deadly force is reasonable only if the officer had probable cause to believe that the suspect posed a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others,” it said. “There was not probable cause to believe that Taylor Lowery posed a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officers or others.”
The suit also alleges Topeka’s city government put out false information about what happened at the scene.
“Contrary to reports from and/or statements by the City of Topeka, upon information and belief, Lowery did not raise a knife above his head and charge the Officer Defendants at the time Officer (Malcolm) Gillum began discharging his service weapon shooting Lowery,” the complaint said.
This photo of 33-year-old Taylor Lowery, taken during an incident in which he was fatally shot early Oct. 13 by Topeka police officers, was among images accompanying a report created by Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay.
How did a city spokeswoman respond?
Topeka’s city government will vigorously defend itself against the suit and “has full faith that the justice system will resolve this matters,” said Rosie Nichols, public safety communications specialist for Topeka’s city government..
“The city takes claims of this nature very seriously,” Nichols said.
She noted that the shooting involved had been investigated by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and that its findings were reviewed by Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay, who chose not to prosecute the officers involved and concluded in a February 2023 report that that each of the 34 shots fired was justified.
What four Topeka police officers does the suit name as defendants?
Overland Park attorneys William and Paeten Denning filed the suit on behalf of Lowery’s daughter, whom the complaint identified only as “L.L.,” and her mother, Da’Mabrius Duncan, who is special administrator for Lowery’s estate.
Named as defendants were the following:
- City of Topeka
- Topeka police officer Malcolm Gillum.
- Topeka police officer George Chiles.
- Topeka police officer Justin Good.
- Topeka police officer Bradley Netherton.
- Five unnamed Topeka police officers identified only as “John Does 1-5.”
The suit demands a jury trial, which it asks be held in Kansas City, Kansas.
The lawsuit complaint gives no specific dollar amount being sought.
It seeks general, special and punitive damages in whatever amount the court deems reasonable; attorney’s fees and any other costs of the suit; and any other relief the court considers appropriate.
The suit alleges one count each of the following:
- Use of excessive force by the officers involved in violation of the 4th and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
- The wrongful death of Lowery, for which it alleges the responsible parties were Chiles, Gillum, Good, Netherton and an unnamed officer identified only as “Sgt. Doe.”
- Assault and battery on the part of Chiles, Gillum, Good, Netherton and Sgt. Doe.
- Deliberately maintaining indifferent policies, practices, customs, training and supervision by the city of Topeka in violation of the 4th and 14th amendments. The suit include an assertion that the city inadequately trains and instructs offers “on the proper use of police power, proper seizure, proper searches, use of deadly force and investigation of alleged crime.”
- A violation of the Kansas Open Records Act by the city of Topeka. The complaint alleges the city violated that act when it refused to provide documents requested multiple times by the plaintiff.
The suit asks the court to order the city to provide the plaintiffs “any video footage including but not limited to body cam footage, witness statements, dash cam video, coroner’s report, autopsy, (computer-assisted dispatching) logs and reports taken or made by the Topeka Police Department.”
What brought about the incident in which Taylor Lowery was killed?
Kagay’s report said the chain of events involved began just before 12:30 a.m. Oct. 13, 2022, when Lowery’s sister called 911 to report he was trying to force his way into the bedroom in which she was barricaded in her home at 4842 S.W. Topeka Blvd., Lot No. 6. The report doesn’t give the woman’s name.
Police arrived, saw Lowery holding a butcher knife inside the mobile home at 12:39 a.m. and ordered him to drop it, but he fled through a rear door, the report said.
It said police caught up with Lowery outside the mobile home, but he waved the knife around in a “fighting stance” while holding a socket wrench in his other hand.
Police reacted at 12:41 a.m. by putting out a “Signal 13” call indicating they were in distress and needed assistance, Kagay’s report said
It said Lowery went back into the mobile home, where officers subsequently forced their way in.
Lowery then came toward officers inside the mobile home before leaving it through a rear door and driving away in an SUV, Kagay’s report said.
What does the lawsuit complaint allege happened at the mobile home?
The lawsuit complaint gives an account that differs from Kagay’s, saying that Chiles and Good knocked on the door at 4842 S.W. Topeka Blvd., Lot No. 6, where a child at one point opened the door, “had a short verbal interaction” with the officers and then shut the door.
One of the officers then began kicking in the door to force entry despite lacking a search warrant or probable cause to enter, the complaint said.
It said Good and Chiles went inside and found Lowery’s sister, who told them Lowery was in another room holding a knife and acting abnormally, the complaint said.
The officers then found Lowery, who was holding an unspecified object in his hand, the complaint said.
Lowery evaded the officers, left the house and ran around the residence before driving away in an SUV, it said.
What did the D.A.’s report say happened at the Kwik Shop?
Kagay’s report said Lowery drove about a half mile to the Kwik Shop at 4500 S.W. Topeka Blvd., parked the SUV, approached another vehicle on foot and violently tried to pull a woman out of it.
Police were watching, and reported over police radio that a carjacking was being attempted, Kagay’s report said.
It said officers got out of their vehicles there, identified themselves as police and began yelling commands to Lowery as he tried to pull the woman out.
Lowery turned toward a police sergeant, screamed, raised a knife he was carrying over his head and charged him, Kagay’s report said.
It said the sergeant backed away but fired three times when Lowery was five to 10 feet away.
A police detective shot Lowery about the same time and he “went down,” the report said.
Meanwhile, three other officers, one of them a sergeant, had taken up positions near Lowery, it said.
The report said he got up, grabbed a socket wrench and began moving again toward the sergeant before the three other officers shot him and Lowery fell to the pavement.
No one else was hurt.
Lowery was found to have been under the influence of amphetamine, methamphetamine and cocaine at the time of his death, Kagay’s report said.
What did the lawsuit complaint say happened at the Kwik Shop?
The lawsuit complaint acknowledged Lowery had been carrying a knife but said police disarmed him of it in the Kwik Shop lot.
Lowery then picked up a socket wrench, which became physically dislodged from his hand, the complaint said.
It said Lowery was bent over and trying to pick up the wrench when Gillum began shooting at him.
“Lowery was not facing Officer Gillum, did not pose a threat to the Officer Defendants and did not take any aggressive actions toward Officer Gillum prior to Officer Gillum discharging his service weapon,” it said.
City denied The Capital-Journal’s request for body camera video
Topeka city attorney Amanda Stanley in February 2023 denied a request The Topeka Capital-Journal made seeking police body camera video taken at the scene.
Releasing the video would not be “in the public’s interest,” she said.
Relatives of Lowery and Christopher Kelley, a 38-year-old Black man with mental health issues Topeka police fatally shot in June 2022 near S.E. 4th and Holliday, asked at a February 2023 news conference that Topeka’s city government reconsider previous decisions it had made to not publicly release police body camera videos of those shooting.
The city responded by continuing to refuse to release either video.
Thursday’s lawsuit filing came at a time when Topeka’s city government is in the process of finding a replacement for Bryan Wheeles, who was Topeka’s police chief at the time Lowery was fatally shot. Wheeles retired effective July 1, 2024.