An Alabama teenager was asleep in his childhood bedroom moments before a police S.W.A.T. team “rammed down” the front door of his family’s home and fatally shot him, according to a new federal lawsuit.

Randall Adjessom was left bleeding out in the hallway for more than four minutes during what was an unauthorized, “no-knock” raid by the Mobile Police Department before sunrise on Nov. 13, 2023, the lawsuit says.

The 16-year-old didn’t know it was the police when he was awoken by officers entering his home and breaking a living room window, according to a complaint filed Dec. 18.

He got out of bed, grabbed a gun and left his room “to protect his mother, grandmother, aunt, and sisters from the unknown intruders breaching his childhood home,” the complaint says.

When Adjessom rounded a corner and saw officers in the hallway, he instantly put his hands up and began to back away, toward his bedroom, according to the complaint.

Then one of the officers shot him four times, hitting him in the chest and torso, the complaint says.

Police body camera footage, which hasn’t been made public, shows Adjessom had his hands raised and that he didn’t pose a threat, according to his family’s legal counsel, who has reviewed the footage.

The purpose of the raid was a search for marijuana “purportedly possessed by Randall’s older brother,” who didn’t live there, the complaint says.

The officers didn’t have court authorization to search the home before dawn, according to the complaint. The raid was racially motivated, Grant & Eisenhofer, the law firm representing Adjessom’s family, said in a Dec. 23 news release.

“I still cannot believe Randall is gone, and that this is another holiday season where we have nothing to celebrate,” his mother, Akouvi Adjessom, said in a statement.

“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,” his family said.

The city of Mobile and several Mobile police officers, who weren’t identified, are named in the lawsuit.

The Mobile Police Department declined a request for comment, as it doesn’t comment on pending litigation, a public information officer told McClatchy News Dec. 24. The city also declined to comment.

In a statement on the lawsuit, the family’s civil rights attorneys Elizabeth A. Bailey, Cynthia B. Morgan and Steven A. Medina said:

“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.”

Police didn’t tell family teen was shot

When Randall Adjessom encountered the police officers in the hallway, he never tried to shoot at them, according to the complaint.

As started to raise his hands and began to retreat while holding a gun with a laser sight, the laser moved ”from pointing in front of him at the police officers to the wall,” the complaint says.

At this moment, one officer tried to shoot his gun, but it malfunctioned and he fell to the floor, according to the complaint.

Then, another officer shot Adjessom four times, the complaint says.

“(Body worn camera) reveals that his body writhed with the pain from his injuries, but Defendant Police Officers did not immediately render medical aid,” the complaint reads.

The body camera footage captured an officer saying “What are we going to do with this,” referring to Adjessom, according to the complaint.

Instead of providing medical help, the officers detained Adjessom’s family members in a room on the home’s first floor and didn’t tell them that the teen had been shot, the complaint says.

His mother didn’t learn he was dead until hours later when she was being questioned at a police station, where officers showed her a photo of him dead or dying, according to the complaint.

After Adjessom was left bleeding in the hallway for over four minutes, the officers began to render aid, the complaint says.

He was taken to a hospital about 40 minutes after he was shot and died there, according to the complaint, which says the hospital was about 8 minutes away from his home.

The Mobile Police Department is accused of a “systemic pattern of using excessive force against citizens of color; in particular, young Black boys and men,” the news release said.

The lawsuit demands a jury trial and seeks an unspecified amount in damages.

‘Legacy of love and cherished memories’

Adjessom is survived by his parents, two brothers and four sisters, according to his obituary.

He leaves “behind a legacy of love and cherished memories” and “brought joy and warmth to the lives of those fortunate enough to know him,” his obituary says.

In her statement, Akouvi Adjessom questioned the role of police within a community.

“They’re supposed to be peace officers, aren’t they?”

“How many more young Black boys like Randall have to be buried following police brutality before the MPD’s legendary culture of unchecked excessive force is finally put to rest,” she said.

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