Family sues after Texas officer kills woman while shooting at dog

The family of a Texas woman who was killed two years ago after allegedly being shot by a local law enforcement officer is now suing the city and the officer.

Troy Brooks, the father of Margarita “Maggie” Brooks, on Thursday filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Arlington, Texas, and former Officer Ravinder Singh, according to The Dallas Morning News. 

Singh reportedly responded to a call on Aug. 1, 2019, alleging that Maggie Brooks had passed out in a grassy area near a local mall. Body camera footage from that day shows Singh arriving on the scene and walking toward Brooks, asking if she is OK. Her dog then begins barking and running toward the officer.

Singh then fires three shots at the dog and the dog retreats back to its owner.

“What the f—,” Brooks screams in the video. “Oh my God. Police shot me.”

Singh can be heard in the video reporting the shots and approaching Brooks, asking her to get her dog under control.

Brooks was reportedly hit in the chest by one of the bullets and later died at the hospital. Her dog was grazed by a bullet but not severely injured.

According to the lawsuit, Singh is accused of disregarding the risk to Brooks when he decided to use his weapon to shoot at the dog while she was near. It says that the incident resulted in Brooks’s “agonizing” death and that the city has some responsibility due to the firearm being city-issued, the Morning News reported.

Singh resigned from the police force three months after the shooting and reportedly was indicted in 2020 on one charge of criminally negligent homicide. His case is still pending, the news outlet noted.