HAMMOND, La. — A grand jury decided that a Hammond police officer who shot a man in the neck after mistaking his cell phone for a gun will not face charges, at least for now. The lawyer for the man who was shot said his client is still recovering physically and there is still an active lawsuit against not just the officer who pulled the trigger, but the entire team who carried out the raid as well as the Chief of the Hammond Police Department.
On July 15, 2023, Officer Craig Dunn executed a no-knock warrant at the home of Lionell Jackson, who they suspected of dealing drugs. In a later internal investigation into the shooting, the audio of which was obtained by WBRZ, Dunn said he saw Jackson “exiting the bathroom, running towards his bedroom.”
Dunn’s body-worn camera was not on during the raid. He told the investigator he attempted to turn it on beforehand and was “unaware of its status.”
Daryl Washington, Jackson’s attorney, told WWL Louisiana he doubts Dunn’s timeline of events. “They're wanting people to believe that Lionell heard them knock the door down, they walk into that little small trailer, he somehow after not knowing who broke his door down was able to say, ‘hey, I'm gonna get out my bed and I'm gonna go flush some drugs down,” said Washington.
Video from another officer’s body-worn camera, provided by WBRZ, shows Dunn then fire once into Jackson’s bedroom. The bullet hit him in the neck. During the internal investigation, Dunn said he saw Jackson “make a motion to come at [him] with something in his hand” and he felt threatened. As WBRZ reports, Dunn told the investigator the object turned out to be Jackson's cell phone.
Hammond PD reported that officers found pills in Jackson’s bathroom. He was charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute a Schedule II Substance along with 7 other charges.
This week, Dunn’s case was brought before a grand jury in Tangipahoa Parish. Jackson was one of 7 witnesses who testified. Washington said Jackson was in the chamber with the jury for about five minutes. Friday the jury decided on a “no true bill,” in the case, which means Dunn will not face charges or an indictment in state court. Washington said he “was not surprised.”
Eight months after the shooting, Washington said Jackson is still in physical pain and that “he has to have another surgery, it’s very difficult for him to talk, he can’t eat normal food.”
Jackson still has an active lawsuit against all of the officers involved in the raid and the Hammond Police Chief Edwin Bergeron. “We're going to be requesting documents with this lawsuit. We're going to be taking depositions, we're going to have these offices under oath. We're going to get to the bottom of this,” said Washington.
Neither Hammond PD nor the Tangipahoa District Attorney were able to be reached on Saturday.
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