Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – The family of a Prince George’s County Police detective killed by a fellow officer two years ago has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against that officer and the county.
The lawsuit filed by Jacai Colson’s family alleges officer Tyler Krauss opened fire on Colson, an undercover detective, even though he was more than a football field away and couldn’t identify him. The family’s attorney Jason Downs said Colson was also screaming that he was a police officer and didn’t match the description of the active shooter broadcast by police.
Colson was killed on March 13, 2016 in a gun battle during an ambush of the District III station in Landover. It started when 24-year-old Michael DeAndre Ford opened fire after being dropped off at the station by his two brothers. Police said a cell phone video taken minutes before the attack revealed Ford wanted to commit suicide by cop.
Colson’s family alleged that the county should have known that officer Krauss was not fit to handle the firearm that he used to shoot Colson.
A grand jury did not indict Krauss on criminal charges.
Downs said the Colson family did not want to file the lawsuit, which is why they waited two years to do it.
“They wanted to get to the bottom of what happened to their son, and they were disappointed and outraged at the fact that there were no criminal charges filed despite all of the evidence that we just talked about,” Downs said.
A successful outcome of the lawsuit, according to Downs, would be “truth and transparency” about the circumstances that led to Colson’s death.
Downs said the truth is that the shooter had been killed by the time Krauss fired at Colson.
“We believe that there has been 100 percent transparency, and that we have shared everything with them that we have,” said Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office spokesperson John Erzen.
While Kraus did not face criminal charges as a result of the incident, the three Ford brothers did. Malik Ford pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder, use of a handgun in commission of a felony, and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in October of 2017. That same month, Elijah Ford pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Michael DeAndre Ford is awaiting trial on second-degree murder and attempted murder charges.
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