John Geer

Deadly force

John Geer's girlfriend called police and told them Geer was drinking and throwing her clothes out of the house. Police responded and encountered Geer at the front door of his townhouse. Geer showed police a holstered gun and placed it on a nearby stairway. Geer was hanging off the door frame with both hands for the next 45 minutes as a hostage negotiator obtained the release of Geer's two daughters inside the townhouse. A police officer standing 15 feet away from Geer kept a gun aimed at Geer's chest for the entire time. After 45 minutes, the officer shot and killed Geer claiming Geer had lowered his hands. But witnesses including police officers testified that Geer hadn't moved his hands and the shooting officer was fired from the department and pled guilty to manslaughter for killing Geer. The county paid Geer's family $2.95 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit.