BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A white Louisiana police officer who assisted in the arrest in which Alton Sterling was fatally shot has been dismissed from a wrongful death lawsuit.
The Advocate reports a judge dismissed Howie Lake II from the case Monday. Lake used a stun gun on Sterling, a 37-year-old Black man, and helped wrestle him to the ground during the 2016 encounter in Baton Rouge but didn’t fire his gun.
Former officer Blane Salamoni shot Sterling. Sterling’s family sued the city, its police department and former police chief and the officers.
Lake’s attorney argued there was nothing Lake could’ve done to prevent the shooting. The suit is set for trial in 2021.