Texas jury awards $10M to family of man killed by deputies
A federal jury in San Antonio has awarded more than $10 million to the family a man who was fatally shot by two deputies in 2015 while he had his arms raised
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A federal jury in San Antonio has awarded more than $10 million to the family a man who was fatally shot by two deputies in 2015 while he had his arms raised.
Video showed that Gilbert Flores, 41, had his arms up and held a knife when he was killed by the Bexar County sheriff's deputies.
A grand jury in 2015 declined to indict the deputies, Greg Vasquez and Robert Sanchez, 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.
According to testimony, Flores' mother called 911 to report that her son had assaulted his wife and infant child. On the call, Flores can be heard saying he was going to die by “suicide by cop.”
An attorney for Flores' family, Robert Wilson, told jurors that the deputies were not in danger when they opened fire on Flores.
“You just don’t shoot somebody when they are standing still and surrendering,” Wilson said.
But attorneys representing the officers argued that Flores remained a threat because he refused to drop the knife.
The deputies declined to comment after the jury's decision.