Attorney for family of Jay Anderson, shot & killed by Wauwatosa police officer, files "notice of injury"
WAUWATOSA -- From errors in protocol -- to the capabilities of a Wauwatosa police officer: More questions are being raised after the officer-involved shooting death of Jay Anderson. The attorney for the family of 25-year-old Anderson, who was shot and killed inside Madison Park in Wauwatosa by a Wauwatosa police officer on June 23rd has filed a "notice of injury" against the city of Wauwatosa.
Jonathan Safran
Jonathan Safran filed the notice Monday afternoon, October 31st.
According to Safran, the notice of injury provides additional information and facts regarding the case, based upon review of the video and documents seen by the family.
A "notice of injury" is the first step towards a lawsuit. Safran said this notice of injury provides formal notice to the city of Wauwatosa "of a potential future claim for damages resulting from this incident."
Jay Anderson
"It's really rough," Jay Anderson's father, Jay Anderson Sr. said of the more than four months since his son's death.
In a statement announcing this notice of injury being filed, Safran said "it is time for the dash camera video to be released" in this case -- "in order for the public to see for themselves what it shows during the seconds prior, at the time, and after the shooting death of Jay Anderson on June 23rd -- now more than four months ago."
"I seen the video numerous times, and I felt like what I seen -- he did not deserve to get killed," Star Delarosa, Jay Anderson's fiancee, and the mother of his child said.
The notice of injury makes reference to another shooting death eleven months before the death of Anderson. A 29-year-old man was killed after Wauwatosa police say he confronted them with a sword. The officer who shot and killed Anderson was also involved in this shooting death, which happened on July 16th, 2015. The notice of injury states that the officer "sustained emotional injuries" as a result of the July 2015 shooting death, which resulted in his filing of disability benefits with the city of Wauwatosa -- which was ultimately denied.
Anderson was shot and killed around 3:00 a.m. on June 23rd in Wauwatosa's Madison Park.
Police have said the officer was responding to a suspicious vehicle when he fired at Anderson, believing Anderson was reaching for a gun.
The notice of injury states that Anderson was sleeping in his vehicle -- "not bothering anyone, not doing anything wrong, and there were no complaints regarding his behavior or evidence that he was doing anything illegal, or had committed any crimes."
The officer was not equipped with a body camera, however, a 20-second video from the dash camera in the officer's squad car shows the seconds prior to the shooting, according to the notice of injury. The notice of injury states that Anderson "had his hands in the air," and the officer "had his gun drawn and pointed at Anderson." The notice of injury says the officer has claimed that Anderson "lunged for the handgun that was in his vehicle," and "refused to keep his hands in the air" while the officer waited for backup to arrive.
Jay Anderson
The notice of injury states that "there is no evidence that Anderson lunged for, touched, raised or pointed any alleged handgun that may have been in his vehicle." It states that at least twice in the dash camera video, Anderson appears to fall asleep or pass out, and his hands and head went down.
"The video does show Mr. Anderson had his hands in the air. Looking at it, it appears there`s at least two times that his hands are above his head and come down. It looks as though he is passing out or falling asleep," Safran said.
The second time that happened, the officer opened fire -- and Anderson was struck at least six times, according to the notice of injury.
The notice of injury states that after the shooting, the alleged handgun was removed from Anderson's vehicle -- but no photographs or other evidence was collected to reflect where that handgun was in his vehicle.
The notice of injury accuses the city of Wauwatosa of "failing to adequately train, supervise and control its police officers, failing to adequately provide for and assist the officer (who shot Anderson) in obtaining necessary psychological treatment following his involvement in the July 2015 shooting, and failing to make sure he was emotionally equipped and ready to return to and continue to perform police duties."
"In the video, what I saw was he was not capable of being a police officer. He didn't do nothing right that night. His protocol was very wrong," Delarosa said.
"There's been information out there that hasn`t been verified as to how he was handling that -- if he had to get medical or psychiatric care -- whether he applied for disability and it was rejected," Safran said.
The document also accuses the city and Wauwatosa Police Department of being negligent in preserving the crime scene.
"There was an allegation there was a gun in the vehicle somewhere on the passenger side -- maybe the passenger seat. Unfortunately the Wauwatosa Police Department after the shooting removed the handgun. They never photographed it," Safran said.
Family members and friends of Jay Anderson on October 23rd gathered in Madison Park to mark the four-month anniversary of Anderson's death. The family is calling for transparency, and they want that dash camera video released.
This case is in the hands of the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office for a charging decision.