Jury awards more than $10 million to family of man shot by Texas deputies
A federal jury in San Antonio has awarded more than $10 million to the family of Gilbert Flores, a Texas man who was fatally shot outside of his home by two deputies in 2015.
Video shows Flores with his arms raised above his head in the seconds before he was gunned down by Bexar County Sheriff’s deputies Robert Sanchez and Greg Vasquez. They responded to his San Antonio home the night of Aug. 28, 2015 for reports of a domestic dispute.
Flores’ mother in a 911 call reported that her son had assaulted his wife and infant child. Flores also told dispatchers that he wanted to die by “suicide by cop.”
Authorities said Flores was armed with a knife when deputies arrived on the scene.
Then-Bexar County Sheriff Susan Pamerleau noted the shooting took place after a “lengthy confrontation,” during which the deputies first deployed their Tasers and shields in a bid to ward off Flores’ knife. In the end, both Sanchez and Vasquez fired their guns.
Their attorneys argued the deputies feared for the their lives because Flores refused repeated requests to drop his weapon.
A grand jury in 2015 declined to indict the deputies on criminal charges. Flores’ family filed a civil lawsuit and the jury on Thursday found the two deputies violated Flores’ constitutional rights, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
An attorney for his family, Robert Wilson, contended that the deputies were not in immediate danger when they opened fire on Flores.
“You just don’t shoot somebody when they are standing still and surrendering,” Wilson said.
Each of the deputies was ordered to pay $1,435,000 to the family in compensatory damages. In addition, Vasquez must also pay $5 million in punitive damages while Sanchez must hand over $2.5 million.
With Wire Services
