The Austin Police Department and the City of Austin are facing a lawsuit after an April incident in which a man was shot four times in his home by an officer.
Avelino Medel II was in an argument with his father in his apartment on April 6. After a 911 call from a neighbor, multiple Austin police officers showed up — some at the door, while another officer, Gabriel Prado, was stationed outside his sliding glass door. Officers banged on the door, Medel grabbed a firearm, then Prado shot him four times through the glass door before he could answer the front door.
A federal lawsuit filed Monday argues Prado used excessive force and violated Medel's civil rights. The City of Austin said it is aware of the lawsuit, but did not provide a comment to KUT.
Austin attorney Jeff Edwards, who filed the lawsuit, says the case is part of a problematic pattern among police in Austin — namely, how officers are trained. Prado was seven months out of the police academy, one that's long been criticized for having a "warrior mentality" in its training curriculum.
"I think what happened here is a young officer overreacted, got scared and did something terrible, and unfortunately when the police do something terrible, it has real tragic consequences, but this is bigger than just Mr. Medel or this individual officer," Edwards said. "It really comes down to the department and this pattern of just shooting innocent people — and hurting and using excessive force on people when there's absolutely no cause to do so."
Edwards also points to the scores of civil lawsuits — and millions of dollars in settlements — as a result of officers using force against Austinites.
Over the past decade, the city has paid out millions in civil settlements to the families of Landon Nobles, Jason Roque and David Joseph, among others. Austin has also paid more than $20 million in settlements after its use of so-called "less-lethal" rounds during protests in 2020 — with two more settlements up for a vote at Austin City Council on Thursday.
