INDIANAPOLIS — Two IMPD officers must pay a woman $600,000 each in connection to the deadly shooting of her brother on the city's south side in 2018.
In court documents filed May 2, a jury unanimously determined IMPD officers Ian Peterson and Jonathan Horlock did not fear for their lives or face imminent risk of bodily injury when they shot at 65-year-old Daniel Cedars.
The plaintiff in the case was Dorothy Robinson, who was Cedars' sister and administrator of the estate.
The jury also said Peterson and Horlock both used unreasonable force against Cedars.
As of Wednesday, May 4, both officers were still employed by IMPD. The department shared the following statement about the incident:
IMPD is aware of the jury’s verdict regarding the officer-involved shooting which occurred on Monteo Drive in 2018. While the incident was unfortunate, IMPD contends the officers’ actions were lawful, compliant with department policies, and were not negligent. While IMPD respects the jury process, it is disappointed with this verdict. IMPD and its legal counsel are reviewing possible legal next steps.
On Nov. 19, 2018, police responded to an incomplete 911 call in the 6200 block of Monteo Drive, near South Harding Street and West Edgewood Avenue, shortly before 1 a.m. While headed to that address, police said the officers were diverted to the 3300 block of West 10th Street to help secure the area during the search for a suspect in a completely different case.
Roughly 30 minutes later, two IMPD officers, later identified as Peterson and Horlock, arrived at the original address.
At 1:36 a.m., police said there was an officer-involved shooting and requested paramedics one minute later.
At 1:39 a.m., Gloria Cloud called 911 and said her husband, later identified as Cedars, had been shot. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said Cedars had fired shots at them before returning fire.
In 2018, Cloud told 13News the couple's 10-year-old grandson made the 911 call. The couple was raising their grandson and his then-12-year-old sister.
"I woke up to gunshots and come through the house. He was laying on the ground in the house, and his gun was next to him. I thought a robber had come in or an intruder, and then, called 911," Cloud told 13News in 2018. She said the dispatcher told her police were already there. "My grandson had called, I guess, 911 and he hung up."
Cloud said she met Cedars in 2014 and married him in 2016. She said Cedars still worked some security details because of his love for police work.
"I can't tell you who shot first but I do know he was shot in the back," Cloud told 13News in 2018.
As she was rendering first aid to her husband, Cloud said she heard officers outside.
Cloud said she knew Cedars had died when the paramedics left without transporting him to the hospital.
"I know he had a gun. He would not have shot at a cop. He is a police officer. He still says he is retired from the police department. Now, he might have been shooting at somebody else," Cloud previously told 13News.
Horlock was also involved in an excessive force incident that happened May 31, 2020, during a Black Lives Matter protest in Indianapolis in which Ivore Westfield and Rachel Harding were arrested. Their attorney, Terence Kinnard, filed a civil lawsuit on their behalf after Westfield suffered major bruising and open sores during the arrest.
Attorney John Kautzman said both Horlock and fellow IMPD officer Nathaniel Schauwecker were simply following orders to enforce a curfew in the city and that neither of them have prior conduct issues.
A jury trial in that incident is scheduled for July 18, 2022.
NOTE: A previous version of this story said Cedars' wife was the plaintiff but has since been corrected.
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