March 8, 2013 — Boca Raton
Boca Raton Police Officer Brian Pare shot and killed 20-year-old Adam Donohue after he charged Pare and Officer Chris Bradley.
Donohue's friends told police that the Florida Atlantic University rugby player, whom they considered a “gentle giant,” had been experimenting with LSD.
That night, they said that he abruptly left a party. Police said Donohue was running erratically through the streets and told a woman that he wanted to "pass away." Donohue tried to carjack a Comcast employee, then assaulted a cab driver and stole his cab. Read more
Minutes later, around 8:45 p.m., police caught up with stolen taxi. A struggle ensued. When Donahue charged the officers, Pare fired fired four shots, striking Donohue twice in the chest.
Donahue dropped, then got up. Officer Bradley deployed his Taser but Donahue ran away. He was Tased again when the officers caught up with him. He died roughly half an hour later.
Both officers received scratches and Pare also suffered an eye injury.
A grand jury cleared the officer.
Donohue's parents, of St. Petersburg, were mystified as to why police shot their unarmed son. Donohue's mother, Arlene Grimm, sued the city in 2015, claiming her son was having a "psychotic break." The suit was settled out of court.
No LSD was found in Donohue’s system, only evidence of marijuana.
This was the 34th police shooting in Florida in 2013.
The same day, three officers shot one person in Navarre .
Also on the same day, three officers shot one person in St. Petersburg .
5 ways this case compares to others
- Donohue approached police in a threatening manner before being shot. That's true in almost 10% of police shootings.
- Donohue was shot after injuring an officer. That was true in 8 percent of shootings.
- Donohue was shot after resisting arrest. A total of 114 people were shot while resisting arrest.
- A civil lawsuit was filed in response to Donohue's shooting. Ninety other cases led to lawsuits.
- Donohue showed signs of mental instability. Almost a third of all shootings involved someone who appeared mentally unstable.