Courtesy Richard Thompson

Courtesy Jesse Britton

The former Crawford police chief, charged with assault after shooting and killing a 16-year-old teenager, said his actions were justified, in good faith, lawful and necessary.

FREE Mobile Banking NOW AVAILABLE!

Richard “Rick” Thompson filed his response in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Pat Britton, the mother of teenager Jesse Britton, in federal court.

Pat Britton filed the lawsuit against Thompson, the City of Crawford and Dan Kling, a Nebraska Game and Parks employee who accompanied Thompson into an abandoned bar that day to arrest Britton.

Crawford is a community of 1,100 people near Fort Robinson State Park that had been rocked by a number of burglaries. Britton was a suspect in the burglaries around Crawford and Thompson had been looking for him for several days.

Britton had been in scrapes with the law before and Thompson and the teen were familiar with each other.

On Oct. 3, 2007, Thompson got a tip that Britton was hiding in the abandoned Frontier Bar in downtown Crawford. Thompson placed two officers outside the bar and he and Kling went inside.

The men located Britton in an upstairs room when he popped up from behind a desk, according to court records. Britton was pointing a .22-caliber Ruger pistol at Thompson. The unloaded gun later turned out to be one that had been stolen in the recent burglaries. Thompson called to Britton and ordered the boy to drop the gun. When he didn’t, Thompson fired three times and hit the teen with his third shot. Kling fired twice and both shots hit Britton.

The boy died at the scene.

A Dawes County grand jury indicted Thompson for second-degree assault in Britton's death. He was placed on unpaid leave by the City of Crawford.

Thompson has said he acted in self-defense.

In his answer to the lawsuit, Thompson denies depriving Britton of any rights under state or federal law.

The answer, filed by North Platte attorney Terry Waite, said that Britton “voluntarily chose to encounter the risks incidental to his attempted arrest.” He said that any injuries or damages Britton received were risks and dangers which he exposed himself to by failing to abide by lawful commands and by pointing a gun at a law enforcement officer.

Waite said that it was Britton’s “malicious, intentional, willful and unnecessary acts” that got him killed.

In his answer, Waite argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed and that Pat Britton should pay Thompson’s costs and attorney’s fees.

In another filing in the case, Kling also made a motion for dismissal.

Stephanie Caldwell, Assistant Nebraska Attorney General and attorney for Kling, argued that Britton had a lengthy criminal history in juvenile court and said that at least one of them was violent.

Caldwell also argued that what Pat Britton claimed in the original lawsuit was that Thompson shot and killed Britton and does not mention Kling shooting.

“Merely entering a bar to confront a suspect is hardly a violation of one’s rights,” Caldwell wrote.

The wrongful death lawsuit said the officers violated her son’s rights.

The lawsuit said the officers had no reason to rush taking Britton into custody and that they had the manpower to insure he couldn’t escape the bar.

Thompson and Kling should have tried to de-escalate the situation using conflict resolution techniques, according to the lawsuit, and there was no excuse to escalate the encounter to the point of deadly force.

The lawsuit said the officer’s actions were “inspired by malice and callous disregard for Jesse’s (Britton’s) life.” It called the shooting “reckless.”

The City of Crawford, in its answer, argued that Pat Britton has no claim against the city based on state law. The city argued that state law specifically excludes liability of “any claim arising out of assault…”

No hearing date has been set.

The criminal assault charges against Thompson have not yet been set for trial.