APD Shooting Leads to Lawsuit

The family of Byron Carter, a 20-year-old Pflugerville man killed in a police shooting in May, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit this week against the shooter, Austin Police Officer Nathan Wagner, and the city of Austin. The suit, filed Oct. 11 by the Carter family's attorney Adam Loewy, alleges that Wagner used excessive force when he shot and killed Carter, who was the passenger in a car which police say had pinned Wagner's partner against another car Downtown. The Carter family claims the city was complicit in denying Carter's civil rights by failing to adequately train and supervise APD officers and by employing "deadly force disproportionately against minorities," among other failings. For more on the story, see "Was Cop's Fatal Shooting Justified?," Oct. 7, and "Carter Family Files Civil Rights Suit Against Officer and City," Newsdesk blog, Oct. 11.