Civil trial begins Monday in case of man shot, killed by APD officers in 2017

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A wrongful death trial for the family of a man shot by Austin police officers in 2017 begins Monday.

Landon Nobles, 24 at the time, was shot and killed by APD officers Sgt. Richard Egal and Cor. Maxwell Johnson on May 7, 2017, after a crowd dispersed from in front of bars on East Sixth Street in downtown Austin.

Brian Manley, then-APD police chief, said officers fired at Nobles because he fired at the officers. The lawsuit says Nobles was shot "in the back multiple times" and that several non-police witnesses said Nobles didn't even show a gun during the incident and "posed no danger."

The lawsuit says an unidentified officer "threw a bike in front of Nobles," and it caused him to fall.

As Nobles, who was Black, tried to regain his balance, the officers opened fire, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit also says "at no time did any officer of the Austin Police Department announce their presence of instruct Landon Nobles to stop."

The two officers, Egal and Johnson, are listed as the defendants in the lawsuit that seeks $15 million in damages. The City of Austin was originally listed as another defendant, but it was removed on July 15, 2021, according to court records.

Ida Renae Nobles, Landon's mother, along with his two children, are listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.