TULSA, Okla. (AP) - The family of a man shot and killed by a Bartlesville police officer in 2019 filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and two of its officers.
The estate of Thomas Gay filed the suit Monday in federal court in Tulsa, alleging the two officers used excessive and unreasonable force.
Gay was shot and killed in June 2019 after police responded to a report of a domestic disturbance at the Bartlesville home of Gay’s parents. According to the suit, police officer Jessica Pitts shot and killed Gay after he had been shot with a stun gun and then attempted to flee a bedroom in the home.
“Thomas posed no immediate threat of serious harm to himself, the officers, or anyone else,” the lawsuit states.
The suit also alleges longstanding, systemic deficiencies existed in the city’s training with regard to the use of violent and deadly force. It seeks more than $17,000 in damages.
Scott Wood, an attorney representing the city and the officers, said during the altercation between Gay and the officers, Gay removed an item from his waist band that Pitts thought was a gun, prompting her to shoot.
Washington County District Attorney Kevin Buchanan determined last year the shooting was justified.
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