The mother of a man who allegedly shot two Jeffersonville police officers has filed suit against the Louisville Metro Police Department, alleging that the LMPD is responsible for the suspect's death.
Police said that on Feb. 19, 2009, Robert Anthony Datillo shot officers Dan Lawhorn and Keith Broady after they responded to a report of drug activity at a Motel 6 in Jeffersonville. Both officers survived the shooting. Datillo managed to escape the scene, but the next day, Louisville Metro Police officers cornered him at a home in the 6200 block of Whispering Hills in Louisville.
Police said Datillo shot and killed himself as a result of that standoff. A spokesman told reporters that night that no officers fired any shots.
Court documents reveal that, on Monday, a suit was filed by Georgia Thompson, who is Datillo's mother and is named as the administratrix and heir of the Datillo estate.
The suit states that unknown LMPD officers, "intentionally and/or negligently caused...Robert Anthony Datillo to be shot by unknown defendants, Louisville Metro Police officers, and thereby caused the death of Robert Anthony Datillo on Feb. 21, 2009."
Additionally, the complaint calls the actions of LMPD officers "malicious" and claims that they were "carried out with a flagrant indifference" to Datillo's rights.
Johnson told Fox 41 News she and her family believe forensic evidence shows Datillo was shot by someone -- and did not kill himself as police said.
Metro police spokesman Dwight Mitchell said the department does not comment on any pending lawsuit.
The suit demands compensatory and punitive damages and was filed by the heir without an attorney.
In 2009, Corporal Dan Lawhorn and Patrolman Keith Broady -- the men allegedly shot by Datillo at the Jeffersonville Motel 6 -- talked to Fox 41 News about what that night was like.
"We were just doing our job that night, and it just went bad," said Corporal Lawhorn.
"I could have set there and died that night, with my femoral artery being severed," said Broady. "I sit back and think about life and I hope it hits me down the road how fortunate I was."