The mother of a 16-year-old who was shot by SWAT police during a no-knock, predawn raid in Alabama, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the police officers involved and the city of Mobile, alleging the teenager was “killed in cold blood,” the Associated Press reports. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Mobile, names the city and unidentified officers as defendants and seeks unspecified damages. In 2021, the Justice Department changed its policy to limit the use of no-knock warrants, requiring agents to get approval from federal prosecutors and a supervisory law enforcement agent.
On November 13, 2023, just after 5:30 a.m., Randall Adjessom, 16, was sleeping in his childhood home when SWAT police -- looking for his older brother on a warrant for suspected marijuana possession and distribution -- used a battering ram to break down his family's front door on November 13, 2023. His brother did not live in the home but his mother, aunt, grandmother and three sisters — two of whom were also minors — were also in the house. Hearing the clatter, Adjessom came out of his bedroom with a gun that he pointed at the officers, but then subsequently retreated with his hands up once he realized he was confronting law enforcement, the complaint said citing sealed body-camera footage. An unnamed officer shot Adjessom four times within 11 seconds of entering his home. Though the emergency room was eight minutes away, Adjessom, who did not arrive there until 50 minutes after he was shot. His death was one of four high-profile police killings that sparked a public outcry in Mobile and eventually led to an investigation into the Mobile Police Department by former federal prosecutor Kenyen Brown at the request of Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson.