A detective with the Albuquerque Police Department has filed a lawsuit against the department after being gunned down by his own police lieutenant, reported KRQE. No criminal charges were filed in this incident.
APD Lt. Greg Brachle shot detective Jacob Grant nine times from a distance of less than five feet in January with his .45 caliber service weapon. This incident occurred during an undercover drug operation at a McDonald’s in Albuquerque, New Mexico that was only worth $60. Grant nearly died after losing 80 percent of his blood.
Grant filed a lawsuit last week against Lt. Brachle, the APD, and the city of Albuquerque.
Brachle shot Grant twice in the chest, causing Grant to plead and tell Brachle to “please stop shooting.” Ignoring Grant’s pleas for mercy, Brachle persisted and shot Grant seven more times. Brachle and Grant had a two-year working relationship at the APD, according to the lawsuit.
“Lieutenant Brachle’s actions and omissions, coupled with his excessive zeal, undue aggression, reckless, intentional or deliberate conduct, shocks the conscience and amounts to an abuse of power,” argued the lawsuit, which also claimed that Brachle has a history of problematic and erratic behavior.
Brachle worked closely with Grant for two years and must have recognized him during the shooting, so why continue firing? Was this a mix-up, or something else? At any rate, this incident and lawsuit is emblematic of the APD’s recent history of police violence and overzealousness.
