The family of a 22-year-old man fatally shot by an , FBI , representative in , Philadelphia , in 2023 has sued, saying her brother was unarmed when the agent and some chased after him and then used lethal army while seeking to arrest him.
Tahiem Weeks-Cook was shot in the early evening hours of , Aug. 4, 2023 , as , FBI , officials in the Nicetown-Tioga town were attempting to provide a warrant for his arrest in connection with two thefts, according to the complaint.
The agents are accused of violating best practices when carrying weapons after noticing Weeks-Cook on the road, including refusing to engulf the house they were targeting on the 1600 block of Venango Street, refusing to knock on the door and explaining why they were there, and then jumping out of an unknown truck in military-style equipment while carrying rifles.
Weeks-Cook — who had been visiting his girlfriend’s apartment — then ran away in a panic, the suit says, and after a brief chase, an , FBI , agent who had followed him in a car shot him while he was “unarmed and his hands ]were ] visibly empty”.
Weeks-Cook was struck in the throat and chest, the coat says, and he was then taken to , Temple University Hospital, where he died two days later from his wounds.
The lawsuit, filed last week by attorney , Paul Hetznecker, says the agencies involved in the incident acted carelessly, with deliberate indifference toward Weeks-Cook’s rights, and used increased power because his hands were evidently empty after he had dropped his smartphone a few moments into the fight.
” At no time was ] Weeks-Cook ] armed with a weapon”, the suit says, nor did he pose a threat to the agents ‘ safety. Seven of the agencies are alleged to have been involved in various powers, but the lawsuit does not name any of them.
Weeks-Cook’s family,  , Stacey Weeks, of , Upper Darby, said last month that she had been frustrated by a lack of responses from the commission in the weeks after her father’s death.
” If you have an arrest warrant, it should not be a dying warrant”, she said. ” And that’s what this was for my child”.
A spokeswoman for the , FBI , declined to comment Monday.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified financial problems.
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