A black teenager is suing the white Virginia police officer who shot him in the back as he was fleeing a burglary scene in a shocking $2.35million lawsuit.
Deontrace Ward, 19, filed the lawsuit on Tuesday morning against Portsmouth Police Officer Jeremy Durocher in Portsmouth Circuit Court.
Durocher, a rookie cop, was not in his police uniform when he shot Ward on October 29, 2017 while he was responding to a report of a burglary, in an incident all caught on the officer's body camera.
The officer saw Ward running away from the scene and opened fire. Two first shots missed Ward and the third hit him square in the back.
'As [Ward] hopped over a fence, [Durocher] steadied himself and as if hunting wild game, took careful aim at [Ward] and fired two more shots at [Ward] as [Ward] continued to run away,' the lawsuit says.
He was hit by at least two bullets and suffered 'serious and debilitating' injuries, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed by Attorney S.W. Dawson, alleges Durocher exhibited gross negligence and battery in the incident.
Officer Durocher said after the incident he opened fire because he saw a gun in the man's hands. However, Ward denied ever pulling the weapon, even though one was found in his right pant leg.
The lawsuit says that Durocher never identified himself as a police officer and was not in uniform. It also says that Durocher never ordered Ward to drop his weapon.
It alleges that Durocher acted as 'judge, jury and nearly executioner' and that Ward wants 'personal justice'.
'The central issue in this case is whether my client had a gun in his hand as he ran away. We believe the video is clear that he did not,' Dawson said.
Following the incident, Ward pleaded guilty in June 2018 to breaking into a home on the 1100 block of Tatem Avenue and stealing jewelry and illegally possessing a firearm, according to
The Virginia-Pilot. He is currently serving a six-year sentence in jail.