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Widow of man shot by Indiana trooper files lawsuit

(WISH) — On Monday, the widow of a man shot and killed last December by a state trooper filed a lawsuit against three different law enforcement agencies and four law enforcement officers.

Gloria Rightsell’s complaint is regarding a shooting last December, where an Indiana State Trooper shot her husband.

The lawsuit gets at two big issues for Gloria Rightsell:

  • why Glenn was shot at all
  • and the time it took for Glenn to get medical attention.

In December 2018, an ISP trooper shot Glenn Rightsell, outside Crawfordsville. His family says the 56-year-old was working on his daughter’s car, which had broken down along the side of a rural state road.

ISP said a trooper had tagged the abandoned SUV that evening. That same trooper was driving on the same highway around 6:30 p.m. Friday and noticed a white Dodge car had pulled up in front of the Tahoe and had the hood open.

According to ISP, the trooper walked up to Rightsell while giving commands and Rightsell allegedly grabbed the gun that Rightsell had on his waist. Gloria Rightsell and her lawyers say the trooper fired five times, hitting Glenn in the face.

“They said, ‘Oh it will get better with time,’ but it doesn’t,” said Gloria Rightsell, at the announcement of the lawsuit.

“Your husband dies of a heart attack, that’s one thing. Your husband dies, gets shot, then you find out its the Indiana State Police that shot him, you’re like, ‘Oh my God, what went wrong?’”

Rightsell and her attorneys say Glenn was alive when he got to the hospital and could have lived, if he had been given medical attention sooner. When Gloria got to the hospital, she says she was not allowed to see her husband, and instead was brought into a room and questioned by police.

The complaint names Indiana State Police and the trooper who fired on Rightsell, the Montgomery County Sheriff Department and two deputies, and the City of Crawfordsville and one officer.

Rightsell’s complaint asks for a jury trial and for compensation for costs associated with her husband’s death and emotional distress.

Earlier this year, the Montgomery County prosecutor said there was not enough evidence to prove the state trooper involved committed a crime.

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