A lady from New York City has filed a civil rights complaint in response to the tragic shooting of her son, Ammir Johnson, by police in Ventnor in August 2020.

Amaala Medina-Johnson is suing for Ammir Johnson’s death after he was shot by police when they responded to allegations of a man behaving strangely on a Ventnor street.

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Who was Ammir Johnson?

Ammir Johnson was 30 years old at the time of his death. He was from Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. Johnson died after police opened fire on him.

On August 6, 2020, in the vicinity of West End Avenue, Ventnor policemen Michael Arena, Pierluigi Mancuso, and Robert Scarborough shot Johnson.

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Amaala Medina-Johnson, Johnson’s mother has recently filed a suit and is seeking damages for the death of her son. 

The lawsuit alleges, among other things, that police violated Johnson’s rights by neglecting to have non-lethal tools at their disposal to restrain a mentally ill person.

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According to the suit, witnesses’ 911 calls informed police that Johnson had slit his wrists while strolling down busy West End Avenue. The lawsuit also claimed that Johnson was bleeding from his wounds when officers arrived, around 4:15 p.m., and he did not pose a threat to anyone.

However, the lawsuit claims that Johnson was “negligently triggered” by cops who allegedly surrounded the 30-year-old with firearms drawn and made “remarks and jokes.”

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Johnson may be seen repeatedly pleading with the police in Atlantic City and Ventnor to murder him in body camera videos. After a roughly 11-minute face-off, he was shot while rushing toward the cops with a broken bottle.

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Among other allegations, the suit contends police violated Johnson’s constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure. It contends that the police force in Ventnor owed it to the community to instruct officers in the use of non-lethal weapons and to make sure “that equipment such as tasers were charged and in working order when needed.” Additionally, It also contends the defendants “owed” Johnson to implement policies and to train officers for interactions with mentally ill individuals.