When a police officer shoots a suspect in the face, a judge can order the officer to give the victim’s parents money to pay for the surgery
In the wake of the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man in Missouri, a federal judge is calling for police officers to be forced to give a suspect’s parents the money they need to pay the medical bills.
According to a news release, U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon, in a ruling issued Monday, is “calling on police officers who fatally shoot people to follow this federal law and order them to pay child support to the parents of the deceased.”
The ruling comes after the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSP) said on Monday that it would not prosecute an officer who shot Walter Scott in the back in 2014.
Scott, who was unarmed, died after a traffic stop by MSP officers.
He was arrested for public intoxication and released.
According, McMahon’s ruling was made while the family of the slain man was attempting to get money from the MSP to pay bills related to his funeral.
The family also requested that the family receive $50,000 from the city of Ferguson, Missouri.
McMahon said she would rule on the matter at a later date.
In a separate case, a U.K. judge last week ruled that an officer shot a young woman in the head with a Taser in October, though she had been shot in the leg, her attorney said.
The shooting of a black man, Walter Scott, who died after being stopped by police in North Carolina, has sparked protests across the U.N. and sparked a nationwide debate over the use of deadly force by police.