Officer Kills Marine with 12 Shots, Lawsuit Filed

The Baltimore Sun has reported that an off-duty police officer is facing a $270 million wrongful death lawsuit for fatally shooting a Marine last summer, as the officer should not have been on the force due to many prior questionable incidents.

The victim's family has filed the suit against the Baltimore officer in Baltimore Circuit Court.

Tyrone Brown, 32, was killed after Officer Gahiji A. Tshamba shot him 12 times as they were engaged in a dispute outside of a club in Mount Vernon this past summer.

Both police on the scene, and witnesses, have alleged that the incident began when Brown inappropriately touched Tshamba's female companion.  The Baltimore Sun reported last June that Tshamba drew his gun and said to Brown, "Do it again" in a challenge.

Brown was unarmed.

The lawsuit claims that Brown acknowledged his actions and apologized.  The woman, a few minutes after this, swung at Brown and he was able to deflect her blow.  Tshamba pointed his weapon at Brown, shouted threats, then pulled the trigger and aimed it at him. 

The family claims that Brown then raised his hands in the air - but it was too late.  Tshamba backed him into an alley, and away from the view of both officers and guests at the club.

Alongside Tshamba, also named in the lawsuit are Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III, the agency's chain of command, the mayor, city council and the state. 

It is claimed that Tshamba violated department protocols by being intoxicated while carrying his weapon.  Additionally, the suit alleges that Tshamba shouldn't have been on the force at all. 

The Brown family attorney, A. Dwight Pettit, said, "We believe there is a serious problem in terms of practices and procedures.  We saw these same issues come up with a [2002] shooting at Lexington Market, and now what we're seeing in terms of the shooting last week [at Select Lounge] ... We're seeing that these things are continually being repeated, this type of excessive conduct.  I've been doing this for 38 years, and more recently my practice has been almost consumed with excessive force police cases and violation of civil rights claims, that's been on a constant rise and increase, and I don't know what's lending itself to that."

The city of Baltimore spent $7.25 settling police misconduct claims from the middle of 2007 to the middle of 2010.

Tshamba had a similar incident in 2005.  At that time he shot a man in the foot while intoxicated off duty - and driving.  In 2006 he crashed his car while driving without insurance or registration.

As far back as 1998 Tshamba shot a man in the back when he mistook him for a suspect. 

The lawsuit states, "To allow officers known to have or suspected to have such a propensity for unreasonable and excessive use of deadly and/or non-deadly force to have full police powers with the authority to carry and operate a handgun endangered public safety and welfare and represented a breach of duty on behalf of the defendants."

The suit alleges the police department's responsibility by stating that they "failed to arrest Tshamba following the shooting despite police representatives publicly stating that they had no credible explanation for [his] actions during the shooting."

Tshamba caused a citywide manhunt as at first he disappeared, and then later, turned himself in.

Tshamba's attorney, Adam Sean Cohen, contends that his client witnessed Brown committing a sexual assault and had feared for his life.  He stated, "If one shot doesn't work, if two shots don't work ... you fire until the threat is gone."

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