Good Samaritan who shot cop's attacker faces lawsuit

By PoliceOne Staff

RISING SUN, Ind. — A Good Samaritan who feared for a police officer’s life when she shot and killed his attacker is now being sued by the deceased’s family.

In February 2017, an off-duty conservation officer responded to a call of a suspicious vehicle and encountered 25-year-old Justin Holland, according to Cincinnati.com. Holland then attacked the officer, overpowering him as bystander Kystie Jaehnen rushed to the LEO’s aid.

Jaehnen, who said she feared for the officer’s life, shot Holland in the shoulder. Holland later died from his injuries. Meth, benzodiazepines, marijuana, methadone, and dextromethorphan were later found in his system. Jaehnen was not charged in the shooting.

Holland’s family is now suing Jaehnen, the officer, and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, claiming that Jaehnen used unjustified deadly force in the shooting.

“If the officer was truly in harm’s way and he was going to die, she had the right to defend him,” Blake Maislin, the family’s attorney, said. “But over and over what we have is a story of somebody engaging somebody else and claiming self-defense.”

A gofundme in support of Jaehnen has been set up to help with her legal fees.