Ryan O'Neill (left) and Eric Logan
Court records show two clashing narratives in Eric Logan’s fatal 2019 shooting by a South Bend police officer.
According to filings by Logan’s family, former police officer Ryan O’Neill was a poorly supervised cop with a “propensity for violence” who opened fire without justification, then shifted his story about Logan and a knife to explain the shooting.
According to O’Neill and the city, all the evidence supports the officer’s claim that he opened fire out of fear for his life while Logan lurched toward him with a hunting knife raised over his head, ignoring repeated commands to drop the weapon.
The records, filed recently in U.S. District Court as part of the lawsuit over Logan’s death, offer an early look at how the two sides will depict the shooting if the case makes it to trial.
O’Neill and the city have asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing the facts of the case show O’Neill was justified in shooting Logan and did not violate his rights.
“O’Neill, running out of space to retreat, and feeling an imminent threat of death or bodily injury, quickly pulled out his guns and shot two rounds from his hip,” the city’s attorneys wrote in a brief. “O’Neill’s use of deadly force was reasonable and not excessive.”
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