NEW ALBANY, Ind. (Legal Newsline) - Individual officers are still facing litigation over the fatal shooting of an Indiana man, though they have been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing.
Indiana federal judge Sarah Evans Barker on July 2 dismissed much of a lawsuit over the death of Joshua Ebinger but kept alive individual capacity claims against two Ripley County deputy sheriffs and an Indiana state trooper.
The motion to dismiss was granted in its entirety as it pertained to Ripley County and the Indiana State Police. Wrongful death claims were tossed against the three officers but deprivation of rights claims were plausibly alleged, Barker ruled.
According to the plaintiff's complaint, officers responded to a 911 call on Oct. 10, 2021, at a location where Joshua Ebinger was located. The plaintiff claims Ebinger was asked to come outside and when he did not come out within a matter of minutes, he was shot by two of the defendant officers 11 times.
The plaintiff further claims that the defendants failed to render medical aid to Ebinger and that his body was left on the ground for hours until he was released to the Hamilton County Corner's office. The plaintiff alleges that after Ebinger's death, his blood alcohol levels were over the legal limit for driving.
A Ripley County prosecutor found the shooting was justified, as Ebinger had pointed a gun at them. He's heard threatening police on his girlfriend's 911 call.
"They better make sure they kill me, or I'm going to kill one of them," he said, according to prosecutors.