Father of shooting victims sues the city of Oklahoma City and police officers

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The father of a man shot to death by Oklahoma City police last year has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city.

Attorneys for Rodric Carr Jr. filed the lawsuit last week in Oklahoma City federal court. Carr's son, Randall Carr, died Nov. 21 after police shot him numerous times near the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

Police alleged that Carr assaulted someone, then attacked two police officers and threatened them with a chunk of concrete.

Pepper spray and batons did not control Carr, 38, police said.

In addition to the city, Oklahoma City police officers Randy Castle and Jerry K. Bowen also are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Oklahoma County District Attorney Bob Macy cleared Bowen and Castle of criminal wrongdoing, saying their use of deadly force was justified.

Castle, Bowen and officer Jarrod Elliott had answered a caller's complaint that Carr was assaulting his landlord, Macy said. Carr hit Elliott in the head and face and kicked Bowen in the groin before fleeing, the prosecutor said.

The officers chased him on foot until he picked up a large piece of concrete and threatened to throw it at them, Macy said. Castle and Bowen shot Carr as he charged and threw the concrete.

The lawsuit alleges that Carr's civil rights were violated by the police officers. The use of deadly force by the officers was "unreasonable and unlawful," the lawsuit states.

Carr's family is asking for $50 million in damages.

Los Angeles attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. and Oklahoma City lawyer John Merritt are representing the Carr family in the lawsuit.

Cochran represented O.J. Simpson in his murder trial and in 1995, he sued a Texas fertilizer company on behalf of 250 Oklahoma City bombing survivors and victims.

Authorities say fertilizer was used to make the bomb that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, resulting in 168 deaths and more than 500 injuries.