Sgt. Greg Capers, the Indianola, Mississippi, police officer who shot 11-year-old Aderrien Murry has been suspended without pay, NBC News reports.
During a board meeting on June 12, 2023, the Indianola Board
of Aldermen voted to suspend Capers without pay “effective immediately” in a 4 to 1 vote. Capers shot Murry in the chest after he responded to a domestic call at the home of Nakala Murry, Aderrien’s mother.The father of one of Nakala Murry’s children showed up unexpectedly at her home around 4 a.m. According to Carlos Moore, an attorney representing the family, the police were told he was unarmed.
The $5 million federal civil rights lawsuit filed last month by the Murry family claims Capers arrived “with his firearm drawn at the front and asked everyone inside of the residence to come outside.”
ontent-custom-banner ampforwp-incontent-ad2">When Aderrien came around the corner of a hallway, he was “instantly shot by Defendant Officer Capers.” The child survived, but suffered a collapsed lung, a lacerated liver and fractured ribs.
Calls have been put in for Capers to be fired but he remains employed and no charges have been filed.
Moore says the Murry family supports the
suspension, but wants him terminated from the department. “The family of Aderrien Murry, specifically his mother Nakala Murry, believes this is a step in the right direction,” Moore said, according to USA Today. “He’s a danger to society.”Caper’s attorney, Michael Carr, claims that the suspension without pay isn’t giving his client due process since he said the officer found out about the suspension adjustment on social media. The officer claims the shooting was an accident.
“I’m awfully sorry it happened to this young man, Officer Capers is awfully sorry this happened to this young man,” Carr said. The attorney said body cam footage has been sent to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and that “once released (it) will clear him completely from any criminal allegation in the shooting.”