Following coverage of the Granger family’s federal civil rights lawsuit on KPLC, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office released graphic body camera footage of the incident last night. Below is Shamieh Law’s official response:
“Shortly after the original story aired on KPLC, we received communication from the Sheriff’s Office stating they had ‘unintentionally’ left out the video of the shooting. Nine months ago, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office formally denied our original public records request for this footage, citing legal statutes prohibiting its release. They did, however, release other body camera footage from the scene after Tank’s death—just not the footage of the shooting itself. That footage only became public last night, when they chose to release it rather than address the central facts of this case.
Bottom line—there was no lawful justification for the officer to be on the Granger’s private property that day, and he should not have used deadly force. This officer is specifically trained to handle situations like this without resorting to such extremes. By the officer’s own admission on video after the shooting, Tank had not attacked him. There were non-lethal options available. None of them were used.
The Grangers deserve a public apology and justice for Tank’s death. We intend to make sure they receive both.”.
