Family’s Wrongful Death Suit Alleges Disability, Rights Violations by Delaware City, Police

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The family of a Delaware man who was fatally shot by local police two years ago while he was armed with a knife has sued the city and officers that fired at him, seeking monetary damages.

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed Dec. 28 in U.S. District Court, accuses the two Milford officers of violating the rights of Brandon Roberts and the city of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

In August 2020, the state attorney general’s office cleared officers Nigel Golding and Brandon Karpin of criminal wrongdoing in the fatal shooting seven months earlier, declaring they were justified in using deadly force against Roberts.

The lawsuit, filed by Roberts’ mother and the mother of Roberts’ two children, alleges Roberts “posed no imminent risk of death or serious bodily injury to the officers” and that he “died an agonizing death,” The News Journal of Wilmington reported. The use of deadly force was unreasonable, the lawsuit says.

Roberts, 27, had a disability, according to the lawsuit, and the officers’ conduct demonstrated the city’s failure to develop procedures and policies to accommodate what the disabilities law requires.

Officers were called to an apartment in response to a domestic-related assault. Police were told that a pregnant woman was being held against her will in the apartment, and that the subject might be a mental patient. They were also told that weapons might be involved.

Investigators said that officers knocked on the door and that Roberts came out with a large butcher knife in his hand and advanced on Golding. Both officers opened fire, hitting Roberts eight times.

The newspaper reported Darlene White, Roberts’ mother, could not be reached for comment. Milford police Sgt. Robert Masten, who declined comment on the lawsuit, said Golding is still employed at the department, while Karpin left in good standing.