BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - The family of a man who was shot and killed by federal officers on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
Thirty-five-year-old George “Ryan” Gipp Jr. was killed by two Bureau of Indian Affairs agents in October 2017. A subsequent investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nebraska cleared officers Raymond Webb and Gary Sandland Jr., who said Gipp walked toward them with his hands in his pockets and failed to follow orders.
The suit filed Tuesday says Gipp was unarmed and was not a threat. It alleges that Gipp was tasered without warning and ran into a nearby ditch “to escape the pain” when he was shot at least five times in the back.
Gipp’s family is seeking unspecified damages. BIA officials did not immediately return an email message seeking comment.
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