HOWARD COUNTY, MD — The family and estate of Alex LaMorie have filed a lawsuit in federal court against Howard County and three police officers who fatally shot the 25-year-old man with autism.
The complaint alleges violations Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, as well as claims of negligence, gross negligence, and wrongful death.
"Alex's preventable and senseless fatal shooting has impacted every part of our lives—leaving indelible, enduring trauma and grief. In Alex's memory, this lawsuit is both a quest for accountability and a way to effect meaningful change," Dr. Jill Harrington, Alex's mother, said during a news conference Thursday.
LaMorie was settling into his new home at Patuxent Commons, a housing community for adults with autism and disabilities, when he experienced a mental health crisis. A police investigation later found that LaMorie had been targeted in a cyber extortion attempt, Patch previously reported.
LaMorie called 911 for help and spoke with police officers on the phone. He had expressed an urge to self-harm. Four Howard County police officers arrived at the housing community and engaged with LaMorie.
The lawsuit states that although the Howard County Police Department knew that Patuxent Commons residents could have specialized needs and police officers have undergone training for encounters with those experiencing a mental health crisis, the four responding officers "arrived without a coordinated plan or specialized support."
"Instead, they relied on a force-first response, failed to involve mental health specialists, failed to de-escalate the situation and had no tasers despite recognizing before the shooting that such less-lethal options were appropriate," the lawsuit says.
After making statements of self-harm and suicide, LaMorie walked toward the police officers with the knife held down and pointed backward, the lawsuit notes. When he was about 15 feet away, Howard County Police Officers Joseph Riebau, Joel Rodriguez and Cody Bostic fired 12 rounds, killing LaMorie.
"While rushing to Alex's location, one officer asked another if he had his taser. He said no. In the final moments before three officers opened fire, an officer called out, 'Do we have less lethal?' But none of the four officers brought a taser that night," the lawsuit states.
Jamie Strawbridge, partner at Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP, said that LaMorie's death was a "preventable tragedy."
"...and it was caused by the county's violation of federal disability law," Strawbridge said during the news conference. "This suit seeks accountability for those failures so that people experiencing disability-related mental health crises receive help—not an unnecessarily escalated, lethal response."
The Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act are federal statutes that prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities.
Prohibited discrimination under these statutes includes failure to make reasonable modifications to policies, practices or procedures when necessary to ensure disabled citizens have equal access to Howard County programs and services (including emergency services) and equally effective communication, the legal team representing LaMorie's estate shared.
The son of a Naval Academy graduate, LaMorie's father died while on active duty when he was six. LaMorie qualified as his father's permanent dependent and was able to be buried with his father at a national veterans cemetery. LaMorie also was a part of the Military Surviving and Gold Star Communities.
LaMorie's stepfather, LTC David F. Carey, U.S. Army (Ret.), is a decorated combat veteran, and generations of Alex's family served in the military, law enforcement and fire service.
Diagnosed with autism as a young teenager, LaMorie became a disability and grief advocate, public speaker, writer, artist and member of the Autism & Grief Project Advisory Board. He shared his experiences through Autism Speaks, appeared as a panelist at San Diego Comic-Con, and inspired his mother, a licensed clinical social worker, educator, author and grief expert, to create Routledge's Superhero Grief series, to which LaMorie contributed as an author and artist.
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