City councilors authorized a $2 million settlement in a federal lawsuit from a fatal police shooting
By: City councilors on Wednesday voted to authorize a $2 million payment to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the estate of a man killed by Tulsa police nearly four years ago.
The case stems from an encounter on Aug. 8, 2020, when officers responded to a report of a man trying to scale the fence of a secure transitional living facility near Apache Street and Harvard Avenue.
Officers found the man, Jonathan Randell, wielding a knife down the street, according to information provided by police at the time.
A crisis intervention team member attempted to keep a dialogue open with the man, but at some point the man began cutting himself with the knife, according to police.
Officers then fired at least one pepper ball at him in an attempt to stop his self-harm.
“We can’t just watch someone cut themselves without taking action,” Capt. Richard Meulenberg explained at the time.
The self-harm ceased, but he “aggressively closed the distance between where he was and the officers,” and at least one shot was fired at him, Meulenberg said.
Police later said eight officers fired more than 60 rounds at Randell.
“The settlement is agreed to and approved by the parties, but the court hasn’t yet entered a judgment. The plaintiff and the City will present the court with an agreed journal entry of judgment, which will also provide for an order of dismissal.”
The federal lawsuit was filed by Deanna Lunsford on behalf of Randell’s estate. It alleged that Tulsa police officers used excessive force while Randell was having a mental health breakdown, according to a summary of the case issued by U.S. District Judge Claire V. Eagan.
Lunsford alleged that Randall was attempting to meet a friend who could help him with his mental health problems and that he became upset after he was informed that he could not leave the scene because of an outstanding felony warrant, according to the summary.
“Randall (sic) was struck by beanbag rounds and pepper balls and officers ordered him to drop the knife, and Lunsford alleges that Randall dropped the knife in a non-threatening manner,” Eagan wrote.
After Randell dropped the knife, Eagan added, “Lunsford claims that police began firing their firearms without reason to believe that Randall posed any threat to them, and Randall died after being shot over 20 times.”
Meulenberg declined to comment on the settlement Wednesday.
In separate action Wednesday night, councilors approved a resolution authorizing the payment of more than half a million dollars to a former Tulsa police officer who sued the city alleging that her free speech rights were infringed.
A Tulsa County District Court jury awarded former Tulsa Police Maj. Tracie Lewis $569,000 in damages after reaching a verdict in her favor in early April.
The case dates back to 2015, when then Police Chief Chuck Jordan demoted Lewis four ranks after others told him she was alleged to have punched a civilian police Records Department employee in the shoulder.
Lewis denied that claim, and she eventually won back her major rank and back pay after an arbitration officer ruled that the discipline was too harsh.
Lewis’ first lawsuit against the city, filed in 2016, ended with the state Supreme Court dismissing the case. She refiled it in 2022.
In her petition, Lewis claimed that she was demoted in retaliation after she filed an ethics complaint regarding plans to hire a supervisor for the Records Department.
Lewis claimed that plans by others to lower the requirements for the position in order to permit a candidate to qualify for the position violated city ethics policy, the merit system and the spirit of a consent decree regarding transparency in the hiring process.
The City Attorney’s Office told councilors that they can expect also to be asked to authorize payment of Lewis’ attorney fees once those have been determined.
The settlements in both cases will be paid out of the city’s sinking fund, which is funded through property taxes.