Family appeals ruling that threw out lawsuit over 2017 BIA shooting death in North Dakota

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Children of a man shot and killed in 2017 during a highway traffic stop on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation are appealing a judge’s decision to throw out their wrongful death lawsuit.

In 2019, the three siblings, acting through their mother, sued Bureau of Indian Affairs Officer Raymond Webb, another BIA officer who was later dismissed from the lawsuit and the federal government in connection with the Oct. 23, 2017, shooting death of their father, 35-year-old George “Ryan” Gipp Jr. The family sought damages to be determined by the judge at trial.

Webb used his Taser twice on Gipp, then fired 17 rounds, according to court documents from both sides. Gipp was fatally shot. The shooting took place south of Fort Yates, North Dakota, along State Highway 24 on the reservation.

U.S. Justice Department attorneys said Webb’s uses of the Taser and deadly force were “reasonable and justified.” They said Gipp’s actions, such as ignoring the officers’ commands and “repeatedly reaching into a weighed-down hoodie pocket,” “heightened the perceived threat level.” After Webb used his Taser, Gipp ran behind the other officer’s vehicle and pulled “a black, shiny object” from his pocket that Webb reasonably believed was a gun, according to the government.

“In response to Gipp’s actions, Officer Webb discharged his service rifle,” the attorneys said.

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The family said Gipp was unarmed and that “Webb’s use of his taser and firearm on Ryan were unreasonable under the circumstances.”

“If anything, the evidence suggests that Webb’s decision to discharge his taser was not only unreasonable, but it had the effect of escalating the situation to a tragic end, when Webb discharged 17 rounds, killing Ryan,” the family said.

The traffic stop occurred after a report of a gun fired in the parking lot of a gas station in Fort Yates, according to court documents. The family said Gipp had accidentally discharged a shotgun after turkey hunting with his parents, and threw the gun out the vehicle’s window before the traffic stop. Gipp’s parents were with him but the officers put them in the backseats of their vehicles before the shooting, according to court documents.

In January, U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor said Webb’s uses of his Taser and deadly force were “objectively reasonable,” and he issued rulings that essentially dismissed the case.

The family is now asking the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to revive the case and send it back for a trial so they can present evidence in court, plaintiff attorney Tom Conlin said in an interview. They filed an appellant brief in mid-April.

Justice Department spokesperson Terrence Clark declined to comment on behalf of the two attorneys representing Webb and the government. Clark also declined to comment on a separate investigation of the shooting done by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nebraska. Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Lecia Wright, with the Nebraska office, referred The Associated Press to Clark. North Dakota U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Terry Van Horn said the office couldn’t comment on the Gipp case. Conlin said no criminal charges were brought against the officers.

In a separate case last year, Webb was indicted in federal court in South Dakota on assault and firearm charges in an unrelated matter. His attorney said Webb won’t comment on the charges or the lawsuit. A BIA spokesperson would not say whether Webb is still an officer.