Inmate shot with ‘less-lethal’ shotgun while showering
By Nick Catlin
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LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KOAT) — The New Mexico Prison and Jail Project has filed a federal lawsuit against a corrections officer. This comes after an inmate was struck with a less-lethal weapon.
Inmate Vicente Sanchez was showering at the Dona Ana County Jail when Officer Brady Kehres gave the inmates instructions to return to their cells. Sanchez did not hear the demand, and a Kel-Tech shotgun was fired several times by Kehres, striking Sanchez in the leg.
Sanchez’s attorney Mallory Gagan, with the Prison and Jail Project, said the video of the incident speaks for itself.
“This is a textbook case of excessive use of force,” Gagan said. “Kehres’ own lapel video shows exactly how unnecessarily aggressive his response was. Other corrections officers on scene confirmed that Vicente didn’t present a threat of any kind to corrections officers or anyone else.”
Sanchez was undressed during the shooting, and Kehres was originally in the showering unit to pass out razors to inmates. The New Mexico Prison and Jail Project have sued, stating that excessive, unjustifiable force violated Sanchez’s constitutional rights.
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