A federal lawsuit filed this week accuses the Mobile Police Department in Alabama of unlawfully conducting a “no-knock” raid that resulted in the death of 16-year-old Randall Adjessom.
The teenager was fatally shot in his family’s home on November 13, 2023, during an early-morning operation that was reportedly unauthorized and racially motivated.
According to the lawsuit, Adjessom was asleep in his bedroom when SWAT officers broke into the family’s home, ramming down the door and smashing a living room window. Awoken by the commotion, Adjessom retrieved a firearm and left his room, attempting to protect his mother, grandmother, aunt, and sisters from what he thought were intruders.
When Adjessom turned a corner and encountered the officers, the lawsuit says he immediately raised his hands and began retreating toward his bedroom. Despite his compliance, one of the officers allegedly fired four shots, hitting him in the chest and torso. Adjessom was left bleeding in the hallway for over four minutes without medical assistance, the complaint states.
Grant & Eisenhofer, the law firm representing the family, reviewed police body-worn camera footage and alleges that the video clearly shows Adjessom with his hands up and posing no threat when he was shot. The footage has not been made public, and the Mobile Police Department has declined to comment on the case due to ongoing litigation.
The lawsuit claims the raid was conducted in search of marijuana allegedly linked to Adjessom’s older brother, who did not reside at the home.
“The complaint is replete with revelations from our pre-suit investigation, perhaps none more repulsive than the fact that MPD body-worn camera (BWC) video of the shooting clearly shows Randall begin to retreat after realizing the intruders into his family home were members of the police force when he was repeatedly shot and killed in cold blood,” the family’s attorneys said in a statement.
“I still cannot believe Randall is gone, and that this is another holiday season where we have nothing to celebrate,” Adjessom’s mother, Akouvi Adjessom, expressed. “But we have love in our hearts and love for Mobile, and know the vast majority of people in our city want what we want: to be treated fairly, equally, and with respect by our police.”
