The City of Huntsville, its police department and two unnamed officers are being sued in federal court by the family of a man who was killed in 2023 after pointing a firearm at authorities.
According to law enforcement, Sterling Arnold of Huntsville caused officers to fear for their lives on the evening of September 14, 2023, ultimately resulting in his death. After an investigation conducted by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the case was handed off to the Madison County District Attorney's Office, which eventually cleared the officers involved in the shooting of any wrongdoing.
Madison County chief deputy District Attorney Tim Gann told WAFF 48 that video from the shooting plainly showed Arnold with the weapon trained on officers.
“It was some of the clearest, best body cam footage I’ve ever seen,” Gann said. “He pointed the gun at the officers. It was obvious that they were in fear for their life."
Despite overwhelming evidence that Arnold pointed a pistol at the police, his wife, Tangela Riles-Arnold, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit claiming her husband was having a mental health crisis at the time of his death and that officers failed to provide him with "mental health intervention" on two occasions. The first interaction between the police and Arnold came on September 12. Riles-Arnold is claiming that during the first incident, she requested officers secure the gun her husband had the night of his death, something she says they failed to do. Because of the "failure" to confiscate the firearm, she believes the two officers, Huntsville and the police department are at fault.
Gann again disagreed with the lawsuit's premise.
"If they endanger other people’s lives, especially if they point guns at police, the police have no choice but to protect themselves or other people," he added.
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