Lawsuit claims Austin police officer 'recklessly' fired weapon that killed 17-year-old in 2021
An Austin resident is suing the city, claiming an Austin police officer "recklessly" shot his gun which resulted in the death of his 17-year-old son in 2021.
In October 2021, three Austin police officers were conducting a driving while intoxicated investigation downtown when they heard multiple gunshots to the north of them, according to previous reporting by the American-Statesman. Officers immediately ran in the direction of the gunshots, and officer Glenn Vargas fired his weapon. The lawsuit, filed in Travis County on Monday, says the bullet from Vargas' gun struck and killed Michael Carothers Jr., who was an "innocent bystander."
"Officer Vargas was not acting in good faith when he negligently and recklessly discharged his firearm in the middle of downtown Austin despite innocent bystanders, including Carothers, Jr., being present and in harm's way striking Carothers, Jr. and killing him," said the lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of Michael Carothers Sr.
Joe Chacon, then the Austin police chief, later shared three videos of the incident, one from the patrol car's dash camera and two from body-worn cameras. The videos showed Vargas running toward the gunshots, firing his weapon and then saying, "S***."
Chacon said at the time officers found the teenager 90 seconds later and began performing life-saving measures on him before he was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
At the time, officials were uncertain if the bullet from Vargas' gun was the one that killed Michael Carothers Jr., or if it came from the other weapons that were fired. No one was charged in the death.
Vargas was placed on administrative duty after the incident while two investigations took place, one criminal and one by the internal affairs division. The lawsuit says Vargas' employment with the Austin Police Department ended in July 2022 after the investigation. Vargas had worked at the department for five years.
Officials with the city of Austin said they had not been served the lawsuit as of Thursday, but that they "will follow the appropriate process and stand ready to defend the city.”
James Roberts, an attorney with Scott Palmer Law Office in Dallas who is representing the family, said lawyers have not yet decided the monetary amount they will seek, and that right now they are focused on getting "justice for the family."
The results of the investigations into the shooting were never provided to the family, Roberts said, but evidence of the case showed that it was Vargas who killed the 17-year-old.
Roberts said officers are trained to shoot only if they have a "clear target," but Vargas "shot in the dark where innocent bystanders were" and neither of the other two officers fired their weapons.
Roberts said this case shows the need for transparency in police departments.
"Austin tries to do a good job of being transparent," he said. "However, I think sometimes it's easy to be transparent when it's good for the department, and they find it much more difficult to be transparent when it's information that the public is not going to like."
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: City of Austin faces lawsuit for Michael Carothers Jr. death
